It Was a Script!” — Suspended Senator Natasha Accuses Senate President of Retaliation

Suspended Senator for Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, has spoken out for the first time since her controversial removal from the Nigerian Senate on March 6, 2025, alleging that the action was politically motivated and executed without due process.

In a candid interview with journalist Adeola Fayehun on her YouTube channel on Saturday, May 31, Akpoti-Uduaghan described her suspension as “a pre-written script” orchestrated to punish her for challenging the Senate leadership.

“The narrative out there is that I created a scene over my seat. That’s completely false,” she said. “What I did was raise a matter of privilege under Chapter 4, Item 9b of the Senate Rules—something that must be addressed immediately. Instead, the Senate President cut me off, ordered my removal by the Sergeant-at-Arms, and told the Clerk to prepare my suspension letter. That was not a reaction—it was premeditated.”

Akpoti-Uduaghan also revealed that the suspension occurred just one day after she submitted a formal petition against members of the Senate leadership, suggesting her removal was retaliatory.

“I had just filed a petition that shook the system,” she said. “The next day, I was suspended. The ethics report they referenced was nothing more than a cover. I believe I was silenced.”

She went on to criticize what she called a “gross abuse of power” by the Senate President.

“He acted like I was a staff member in his living room,” she said. “He does not have the constitutional authority to unilaterally suspend a senator from the floor. It was unlawful, degrading, and a violation of my rights as a legislator.”

Akpoti-Uduaghan’s comments have reignited debate around legislative accountability, gender equity in politics, and internal transparency within Nigeria’s National Assembly.