Suspended Senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, has come out swinging, accusing Senate President Godswill Akpabio of orchestrating her suspension in a calculated attempt to silence her for refusing to play along with alleged backroom demands.
In a no-holds-barred interview with journalist Adeola Fayehun on May 31, 2025, Natasha declared that her March 6 suspension wasn’t about a disagreement over seating, but a “premeditated abuse of power.” She accused Akpabio of trampling on her rights as a duly elected senator and acting “like a monarch in his living room.”
“The idea that I caused a scene over my seat is a complete lie,” she said. “I was raising a matter of privilege under Chapter 4, Item 9b of the Senate Rules—something that demands urgent attention. Instead, Akpabio cut me off, called in the Sergeant-at-Arms, and ordered the Clerk to prepare my suspension letter. That wasn’t discipline—it was a script already written.”
According to Natasha, tensions began when she resisted Akpabio’s alleged push for political and financial kickbacks from her role as Chair of the Senate Committee on Local Content. She claimed that shortly after her appointment, the Senate President demanded a “progress report”—a euphemism, she later discovered, for financial or political returns.
“I was told by a senior senator that I needed to return money or jobs from my committee to him. I was shocked. That’s corruption, and I said no,” she said. “From that moment, the friction began.”
She recounted how Akpabio mocked her refusal and dismissed her concerns, allegedly telling her, “Then you’re not fit to chair any committee.” What followed, she claimed, was a sustained campaign to sideline and ultimately suspend her—culminating a day after she filed a petition against the Senate leadership.
“The ethics report they cited was just a smokescreen. My real offense was daring to speak up,” she said.
Natasha didn’t stop there. She pulled the curtain back on what she described as the toxic political culture inside the Senate, where lawmakers are pressured to “deliver” to powerful political “fathers” and budget sessions are riddled with shadowy lobbying and coercion.
“Akpabio has turned Senate sittings into comedy shows—pure distraction. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, there’s pressure, deals, and intimidation. What happened to me, many others are silently enduring,” she alleged.
Despite the lack of an official Senate response, Natasha’s explosive revelations have ignited widespread public outrage and reignited calls for deeper reform and transparency in Nigeria’s 10th National Assembly.
Her final word? “This isn’t just about me. It’s about a system that punishes integrity and rewards silence. And I refuse to be silent.”
