Senate President Godswill Akpabio has denied allegations by Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan that she was treated like a “domestic servant” and victimised under his leadership, describing the claims as “untrue.”
Akpoti-Uduaghan, who returned to her office on Tuesday after months of suspension and legal disputes, had accused Akpabio of acting like a “dictator” and insisted she had “no apology to tender” for her defiance.
Responding on Channels TV Wednesday morning, Akpabio’s media aide, Kenny Okolugbo, defended the Senate’s actions, saying her suspension followed due process.
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.”
Okolugbo explained that her attempt to return in July was invalid. “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.
Highlighting privileges Akpoti-Uduaghan had enjoyed, he said her political growth contradicts her claims of mistreatment.
“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?” Okolugbo said.
He maintained that the Senate complied with its rules throughout the process and dismissed any suggestion of personal persecution by Akpabio as baseless.
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