….Afenifere, others berate delay
Deborah Akinyosoye
The Senator representing Kogi Central Senatorial District, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, has issued a demand for her immediate reinstatement to the Senate.
She, therefore, gave the Clerk of the National Assembly, Dr. Yahaya Danzaria, a four-day ultimatum to facilitate her resumption at the Senate or face contempt proceedings and disciplinary sanctions.
Akpoti-Uduaghan, through her legal counsel, Michael Jonathan Numa (SAN), rejected the Clerk’s letter of September 4, which insisted that her suspension remained subsisting until the Court of Appeal rules on the matter.
The senator warned that failure to comply by Monday, September 15, 2025, would leave her with no choice but to initiate proceedings against the Clerk both personally and in his official capacity.
MEANWHILE, the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere, yesterday, berated the Senate for preventing Akpoti-Uduaghan from resuming her legislative duties after fulfilling the terms of her six-month suspension. Afenifere warned that the decision tends to portray a dangerous political precedent in the country.
ALSO, an umbrella body of more than 300 women’s rights organisations, Womanifesto, has condemned the prolonged exclusion of Akpoti-Uduaghan from the Senate, describing the action as both unconstitutional and a deliberate affront to women’s political participation.
Womanifesto Convener, Dr Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi, in a signed statement, yesterday, accused the Senate leadership and the National Assembly management of openly defying a subsisting court order.
The statement stressed that the development amounts to an assault on Nigeria’s democratic foundations. The groups, therefore, called for her immediate and unconditional reinstatement, full compliance with the court ruling, an end to what it called “spurious claims and delay tactics” by the Senate; and accountability for the abuse of legislative authority.
LIKEWISE, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has said that the labour movement, as the historic defender of justice, will mobilise to resist the continued barring of Akpoti-Uduaghan from performing her sacred constitutional duties.
It said that the Senate’s decision was not just merely an error in judgment, but also an assault on democracy itself. NLC President, Joe Ajaero, in a statement, yesterday, said the Congress, which vehemently condemns the Godswill Akpabio-led Senate’s decision to continue barring Natasha, said suspending her prevents her from performing her constitutional roles and depriving her people of proper representation.