Suspended Senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, has described her suspension from the National Assembly as a pre-written script driven by political motives.
Addressing her suspension in an interview with a US-based Nigerian journalist, Adeola Fayehun, she said it was a pre-written script and not spontaneous, adding that the allegation that she disturbed proceedings over her seat was false.
The Senate had on March 6 suspended the Kogi central senator for six months over alleged gross misconduct following her seating arrangement altercation with Akpabio.
“The impression being circulated is that I caused a scene over my seat. That is false.
“I raised a matter of privilege under chapter 4, Item 9b of the Senate rules — a provision that demands immediate attention.
“But the senate president cut me off, ordered the sergeant-at-arms to remove me, and directed the clerk to begin preparing my suspension letter. That wasn’t a reaction; it was a pre-written script,” she said.
Natasha stated that her suspension came a day after she submitted a formal petition against the Senate leadership.
The lawmaker said, “I believe my suspension was retaliatory. The ethics report they cited was merely a smokescreen. I had submitted allegations that shook the system, and the next day, I was silenced.”
While speaking on a claim by Sandra Duru, who alleged that Natasha was making efforts to sabotage the current administration led by someone from the south-west, the lawmaker said, “People who know me know that I am not a tribalist. I respect and appreciate every tribe in Nigeria, every ethnicity.
“I am half Nigerian and half Ukrainian — who am I to talk about tribe when I am one part of the other world? That is not my nature; that is not my language.”
Natasha claimed that Duru’s statements were backed by political interests threatened by her widespread support.
“If anybody said that, it’s probably her team, the people who have sponsored her.
“Her sponsors are the ones who have probably put those words to her because they knew that I had enjoyed a lot of support from Nigerians, not just in Kogi state, but across the country and even in the diaspora.”
Natasha also accused Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, of misusing his office by singularly ordering her removal from the Assembly.
“He has no authority to unilaterally suspend any senator on the floor. The way he handled it — like I was a staff member in his living room — was not only unlawful but also degrading.
“My reaction was in response to a decision he had already made,” she said.
Natasha speaks on her relationship with Tinubu
Akpoti-Uduaghan said her cordial relationship with President Bola Tinubu infuriated Akpabio.
“The senate president, Godswill Akpabio, also knows that I enjoyed a good relationship with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“I have not said it in the open before, but I am saying it now, and that annoyed him because there was a time when the senate president told my husband, ‘Are you aware that your wife goes to see the President?’ and my husband told him he was aware.
“Whenever I have critical issues to raise, like before I brought up the issue of probing Ajaokuta, I did meet with Mr President to make sure he knew the nature of it, and he was okay with it. For other matters, too, I have met him in person.
“So, I do not have a hostile relationship with the president, even though I am in the opposition. I keep saying, the good people of Kogi central voted me as a senator to work, not to antagonise or create enmity.
“I want the people to know my issue is with the senate president — not the entire senate, the Nigerian people, the institutions, or the presidency.”
