Drama In The Senate: Akpabio’s Aide Alleges Senate President Treats Natasha Like A Servant

Senate President Godswill Akpabio has rejected claims by Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan that she was treated like a domestic servant and subjected to dictatorship during her suspension from the upper chamber.

Through his media aide, Kenny Okolugbo, Akpabio described the Kogi Central lawmaker’s allegations as “untrue and misleading,” emphasizing that her suspension complied with Senate rules.

Speaking on Channels Television’s Morning Show on Wednesday, Okolugbo explained that Akpoti-Uduaghan’s six-month suspension, which began on March 6, 2025, followed the findings of the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Petitions.

“Senator Natasha was suspended on March 6, 2025, for gross misconduct after the Ethics and Privileges Committee presented its report to the Senate. The six-month suspension was fully in line with Senate rules and regulations,” Okolugbo said.

He added that her refusal to take her seat on February 20, 2025, and her conduct afterward were deemed “despicable” by her colleagues.

Okolugbo also criticized her attempt to resume in July, calling it premature. “She attempted to return in July, but the judgment of Justice Binta Nyako did not order her reinstatement. The opinion only suggested that the six-month suspension was excessive,” he said.

The media aide highlighted the privileges and responsibilities Natasha held before her suspension. “Senator Natasha was inaugurated on November 2, 2023. By November 20, she had already been made Chairman of the Committee on Local Contents.

By January 2024, she became a member of the International Parliamentary Union and ECOWAS, and she had submitted three bills.

Remarkably, even while suspended, her bill on the Federal Medical Centre in Kogi State was passed into law. How many senators have bills passed into law? How then could she claim she was treated like a slave?”

Okolugbo stressed that Akpabio held no personal grudge against Natasha, reiterating that the Senate acted strictly according to its standing orders.