Senate President Godswill Akpabio, through his media aide, Kenny Okolugbo, has described as “untrue” the allegations by Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan that she was treated like a domestic servant and labelled him a “dictator” during her suspension.
DECENCY GLOBAL NEWS reports that the statements come in the wake of Akpoti-Uduaghan’s return to her Senate office on Tuesday after months of legal battles and administrative standoffs.
Upon resuming, she accused Akpabio of treating her as if she were a domestic servant, describing him as a “dictator” and insisting she had “no apology to tender” for her defiance.
Speaking on Channels TV on Wednesday morning, Okolugbo outlined the circumstances surrounding Akpoti-Uduaghan’s six-month suspension, saying it followed her refusal to take her seat on February 20, 2025, and her subsequent conduct, which the Senate considered “despicable.”
He said, “Senator Natasha was suspended on 6th March 2025 for gross misconduct after the Ethics and Privileges and Public Petitions Committee presented its findings to the Senate. The decision to suspend her for six months was in line with Senate rules and regulations.”
“She attempted to resume in July, which was premature, because the judgment of Justice Binta Nyako did not order her to be reinstated… It was an opinion that said that the six-month suspension was excessive,” he said.
He also highlighted the privileges Akpoti-Uduaghan has enjoyed since her inauguration, saying, “Senator Natasha was inaugurated on the 2nd of November 2023. By the 20th of November, she had already been made chairman of the committee on local contents.
“By January 2024, she was already a member of the International Public Parliamentary Union, she was made a member of ECOWAS, she had submitted three bills, and interestingly, while she was in suspension, her bill on the Federal Medical Centre in Kogi State was passed into law.
“How many senators have bills that have been passed into law? So how would she now say that she was being treated as a slave?”
The media aide stressed that the Senate followed all procedures and regulations during her suspension, asserting that any suggestion of personal mistreatment by Akpabio is false.
