Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan officially resumed her legislative duties on Tuesday, six months after she was suspended by the Senate.
The senator representing Kogi Central returned to her office shortly after it was reopened by officials of the National Assembly. During a press briefing in her office, she insisted she owed no apology to the Senate leadership.
She stated, “I feel happy and vindicated by having access to my office today for resumption of legislative duties after six months of illegal and unjust suspension.
“I read in one of the national dailies today that the Senate met yesterday, where the Minority Leader was reportedly mandated to prevail on me on December 7, to tender an apology.
“If the report is true, it means the battle has just begun because I have no apology to tender to anybody for the wrong done to me and not me to anybody or the Senate.”
She further questioned the rationale behind calls for an apology: “I’m actually worried as to what apology they expect from me. You can’t apologise for an injustice.”
The senator accused the Senate of fraud in the handling of her suspension. According to her, the recommendation leading to her suspension was drafted from the Senate President’s office and not independently by the Senator Neda Imasuen-led committee.
Akpoti-Uduaghan described the signatures on the recommendation as mere attendance records rather than genuine endorsements. “This is just one illegality upon the other, and I think in Nigeria we should reject such things,” she said.
She stressed that if reopening her office was tied to an apology, then the struggle was far from over. “No one is more Nigerian than me and others. Akpabio is not more of a senator than me. He is not a governor of this place and cannot treat me as if I am one of his servants or a domestic staff in his house.”
Expressing gratitude, she thanked Nigerians and political leaders who stood by her throughout the suspension, including Atiku Abubakar, Senator Bukola Saraki, Femi Falana, her party, the PDP, as well as the Labour Party, ADC, and the media.
Earlier that morning, at exactly 10:00 a.m., her office (Room 2.05 in the Senate Wing) was formally reopened by Alabi Adedeji, Deputy Sergeant-at-Arms.
Akpoti-Uduaghan was initially suspended on March 6, 2025, after the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Petitions, chaired by Senator Neda Imasuen, found her guilty of misconduct during a February 20 session, where she protested seat reallocation by Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
