The Kogi Central lawmaker arrived the National Assembly complex around noon in a black vehicle but was stopped at the first gate by security personnel. After minutes of waiting, Akpoti-Uduaghan alighted from the car and proceeded on foot, accompanied by a crowd of supporters including activist Aisha Yesufu.

Despite their persistence, the senator and her entourage were barred again at the second gate and later met a locked entrance. All attempts to gain access were rebuffed by security agents.

Visibly displeased, Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan left the premises, vowing to consult her legal team on the next steps. “I’ll be back,” she declared, hinting that she would resume once the Senate reconvenes after its two-month recess.

Her attempted resumption follows a Federal High Court judgment in Abuja, which ordered the Senate to recall her from suspension. The upper chamber, however, has appealed the ruling.

Akpoti-Uduaghan was suspended on March 6 for six months over alleged misconduct, following her claims of sexual harassment against Senate President Godswill Akpabio—a claim she insists is true and the basis of her legal challenge.

On Saturday, during an empowerment event in her Ihima hometown in Kogi, the senator announced her intention to resume sitting on July 22, citing the court’s directive.

“I’ve written to the Senate that I’ll be resuming on the 22nd,” she said. “The court has made a decision and I am acting based on that.”

But the Senate insists her action is premature.

Senate spokesperson, Yemi Adaramodu, on Sunday dismissed the court’s decision as merely an “advisory opinion” and not a binding order.

“We advise the Distinguished Senator to refrain from any attempt to storm the Senate next Tuesday under a false pretext,” he said in a statement.

“The Senate, as a law-abiding institution, is committed to due process and will, at the appropriate time, consider the advisory opinion of the court. Until then, she is respectfully advised to stay away from the chambers.”

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The National Assembly’s upper chamber has directed Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan (Kogi Central) to refrain from participating in its sittings, insisting that her suspension remains in force.

In a statement issued on Sunday, Senate spokesman Senator Yemi Adaramodu said there is “no subsisting court order” compelling the Senate to reinstate Akpoti-Uduaghan before her suspension lapses.

Akpoti-Uduaghan was suspended in March for allegedly flouting Senate rules during a heated seating-arrangement altercation with Senate President Godswill Akpabio, whom she had accused of sexual misconduct—an allegation the Senate President has consistently denied.

Last week, the suspended senator cited a Federal High Court ruling by Justice Binta Nyako in Abuja as the basis for her plan to re-enter the chamber on Tuesday, July 22. She had secured an interlocutory judgment that she argued entitled her to resume duties immediately.

But Adaramodu countered that the court’s judgment contained “no positive or mandatory order” for an early recall, describing Akpoti-Uduaghan’s intended return as “surprising and legally untenable.”

“It is therefore surprising and legally untenable that Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan, while on appeal and having filed a motion for stay against the valid and binding orders made against her, is attempting to act upon an imaginary order of recall that does not exist,” the spokesman said.

He cautioned the lawmaker against any attempt to “storm the Senate” under a false premise, warning that such action “would not only be premature but also undermine the dignity of the Senate and violate due process.”

Adaramodu reaffirmed the Senate’s commitment to the rule of law, stating that the leadership would, “at the appropriate time, consider the advisory opinion of the court on both amending the Standing Orders of the Senate and her recall, and communicate same thereof to Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan.”

“Until then,” he concluded, “she is respectfully advised to stay away from the Senate chambers and allow due process to run its full course.”

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The Senate Committee on Public Accounts has issued a 10-day ultimatum to the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mr. Bayo Ojulari, to respond to 11 financial queries bordering on discrepancies in the company’s audited financial statements.

Chairman of the committee, Senator Aliyu Wadada, issued the directive during a session held at the National Assembly complex, Abuja, warning that failure to comply would attract constitutional sanctions.

The lawmaker described the alleged irregularities in NNPCL’s financial books as “mind-boggling and unacceptable,” noting that over N200tn in unexplained receivables and undocumented legal and audit fees spanning 2017 to 2023 had been uncovered.

Ojulari, in a letter to the committee, had sought a two-month extension to enable the company respond to the queries, but the committee rejected the request and insisted on a 10-working-day deadline which expires on July 10.

“It is unacceptable,” Wadada said. “We have given them 10 working days. This committee will not tolerate delay tactics in matters concerning public funds.”

He warned that any attempt by the NNPCL boss to ignore the directive would be considered contempt of the Senate.

“Any attempt to disregard this committee’s directive will amount to contempt of the Senate. We are here to protect public funds, and we will not be deterred,” he stated.

The senator also frowned on the absence of NNPCL’s external auditors at the session, stressing the need for transparency and accountability in the management of public resources.

The hearing was attended by representatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit, the Department of State Services and other stakeholders, who served as witnesses.

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The Senate Committee on Customs has directed the Nigeria Customs Service to increase its 2025 revenue target from N6tn to N10tn amid growing concerns over revenue leakages, smuggling, and insecurity across the country.

Chairman of the committee, Senator Isah Jibrin, gave the directive on Monday during the NCS budget defence session before the committee. Appearing before the lawmakers was Deputy Comptroller General of Customs, Jibo Bello.

Central to the session was the issue of the government’s tariff policy, with the committee expressing displeasure over the Service’s failure to enforce the 4 per cent freight on board (FOB) levy, which forms part of the statutory charges on imported goods.

Bello, however, disclosed that the Ministry of Finance had authorised the suspension of the 4 per cent FOB collection. This revelation drew sharp reactions from the lawmakers, who described the move as a breach of the law.

Consequently, the committee summoned the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, to appear before it on Thursday to explain the rationale behind the suspension. The Senate insists that halting the levy without legislative backing undermines existing fiscal frameworks and affects revenue projections.

“We must enhance enforcement, block leakages, and ensure optimal revenue generation, especially in the face of economic constraints and rising security threats at our borders,” Jibrin said.

The committee vowed to scrutinise all stakeholders involved in the decision and reiterated its commitment to transparency, national security, and economic recovery.

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The Senate on Wednesday urged the Federal Government to ensure the inclusion of one representative from each local government council across the states, as well as one from each area council in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), in the deliberations of the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC).

The upper chamber also mandated that the resolution be conveyed to the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, who chairs the FAAC, for immediate implementation.

The resolution followed a motion moved by Senate Deputy President, Senator Barau Jibrin (Kano North), aimed at promoting constitutional compliance and financial transparency at the grassroots level.

Senator Jibrin argued that local government councils, being constitutionally recognised as the third tier of government under Section 7(1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), are entitled to receive allocations directly from the Federation Account.

The Senate cited a July 2024 Supreme Court judgment, which clarified that state governments merely serve as conduits for transmitting local government allocations and do not possess ownership or discretionary control over the funds.

Lawmakers noted that the current structure of FAAC, which includes only federal and state representatives, does not align with the Constitution. They observed that Section 5 of the Allocation of Revenue (Federation Account, etc) Act of 1981, which excludes local governments from the committee, had now become inconsistent with constitutional provisions, in light of the Supreme Court’s decision.

The Red Chamber stressed that the evolving legal interpretations necessitate the direct participation of local government representatives in FAAC to safeguard their interests and foster greater transparency in the allocation and utilisation of national revenues.

They warned that continued exclusion of LGs from FAAC proceedings undermines the constitutional status of local councils and hampers equitable grassroots development.

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The Nigerian Senate has suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan for six months following allegations of misconduct and violation of the Senate’s Standing Rules.

Her suspension, announced during Thursday’s plenary session, stems from a heated dispute with Senate President Godswill Akpabio, whom she accused of sexual harassment—an allegation he has denied.

Reading the recommendations of the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Code of Conduct, Akpabio declared:

“That the Senate do suspend Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan for six months for her total violation of the Senate Standing Rules (2023 as amended) for bringing the presiding officer and the entire Nigerian Senate to public opprobrium.”

Efforts by some senators to reduce the suspension to three months were unsuccessful as a majority vote upheld the six-month penalty. However, the Senate left room for reconsideration, stating that the suspension could be lifted or shortened if she submits a written apology.

“For the Senate to consider lifting this suspension or reducing the tenure of the suspension, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan shall submit a written apology to the Senate before her reconsideration,” Akpabio added.

Despite the suspension, the Senate ruled that salaries for Akpoti-Uduaghan’s legislative aides should continue.

“The aides of Natasha are not Natasha,” Senator Orji Kalu argued while seeking an amendment to the sanctions. “It would be wrong for this Senate to deprive these aides of their allowances.”

Following the decision, the Kogi Central lawmaker was escorted out of the chamber by the Sergeant-At-Arms. Before exiting, she reportedly declared, “This injustice will not be sustained.”

Origins of the Controversy

The crisis began on February 20, 2025, after a seating arrangement dispute between Akpoti-Uduaghan and Akpabio. She later accused the Senate President of sexual harassment and abuse of office, submitting a petition to that effect.

However, the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Petitions, led by Senator Neda Imasuen (Edo South), dismissed her claims. The committee ruled that her petition was “dead on arrival” due to procedural lapses, particularly her decision to personally sign the petition instead of securing an external endorsement.

Undeterred, Akpoti-Uduaghan re-submitted the petition, but the committee, on the same day, recommended her suspension for violating Senate rules.

Additional Sanctions

Apart from the suspension, the Senate resolved to:

Lock her office for the duration of the suspension.

Bar her from the National Assembly premises.

Halt her salary payments, although her aides will continue to receive their allowances.

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First, the two issues that threw Akpoti-Uduaghan and Senate President Godswill Akpabio to centers of discourse have throwbacks to and possess symbolic bearing in American and biblical history. Many have berated her on why a trifling matter of space/seat allocation on the floor of the parliament should get her that worked up. They must, however, have forgotten that one of the issues that women who try to square up to men in a patriarchal society like ours face and fight is visibility. While in pursuit of the male dominance thesis, men try to hold women down, such women try to assert themselves and create visibility for themselves.

Akpoti-Uduaghan’s squabble over seating arrangement and Akpabio’s senate’s resistance and insistence on maintenance of status-quo remind me of the famous Montgomery bus altercation of 1955. On December 1 of that year in Montgomery, Alabama, a 42-year-old woman named Rosa Parks did what philosophers call against method. Paul Feyeraband, an Austrian philosopher, had in 1976 pioneered that thesis. In a racial American society of the time where blacks were inferior and expected to leave their bus seats for whites, Parks refused to give up hers for a white male passenger. Her refusal sparked off a boycott that changed the paradigm of racial relationships in America. It even shot the less-known Martin Luther King Jr to world recognition. At the risk of sanctions for her impudence, Parks had reportedly told the Montgomery bus driver, “My feet are tired.” Like Parks’ fight for the visibility of the black race, Akpoti-Uduaghan’s resistance was a fight for the visibility of women.

If other women in the senate like Ireti Kingibe had seen the fight as being beyond mere seat allocation into an underscore of their womanliness and fight against the irritant male-dominated status-quo, they probably would have given the Kogi senator more collective push. Like Bettina Aptheker wrote in her Foreword to Nawal El Saadawi’s A daughter of Isis, “women (daily) struggle for voice and human dignity and to overcome the binds of patriarchy…and are crushed under patriarchal conventions”. Women’s sexuality is constantly crushed in this struggle.

The second issue that flows from the first is Akpoti-Uduaghan’s allegation of sexual harassment. People have taken stands either on account of their stomachs, what lies between their thighs or their political affiliations. Again, the allegation is a symbolism. Many who cannot stand Akpoti-Uduaghan’s femininity or her boldness to underscore it in a patriarchal senate have likened her allegation to the biblical Portiphar’s wife who alleged that Joseph wanted to sexually assault her. Many have also brought out her alleged history which they claim feeds the trope of her usual allegations of blackmail against the male gender. If allegation is a typecast, Akpabio’s alleged history with women validates Akpoti-Uduaghan’s allegation. A couple of years ago, Joy Nunieh, a former NDDC MD, had alleged that she slapped the senate president when he attempted to sexualise her in his guest house at Apo, Abuja.

On an Arise News interview, Ireti had attempted to infantilise Akpoti-Uduaghan, the same way a huge percentage of the senate fatherlise Akpabio, who is only first among equals in the parliament. This is due to the huge war-chest in the possession of his leadership and capability to substantially jerk up members’ personal finances through graft. The other day, on the same television station, Peter Onyeka Nwebonyi, representing Ebonyi state, did this by claiming that Akpabio was “our father.” Last Friday, Kingibe did this, too, by referring to Akpoti-Uduaghan as “my daughter”. She further fell into the argumentative pitfall of claiming that since Akpabio never assaulted her and the two other female senators, Akpoti-Uduaghan’s allegation must be concocted. I pray thee, do these elderly women still possess their colleague’s sultry disposition? And, isn’t it a rarity to see lascivious flesh-devouring vultures attempt to take grandmothers for supper?

We cannot suffer on all fronts by having a national assembly that is allegedly a cesspit of Nigerian national patrimony-devourers, as well as a home for devourers of the flesh of our women. Yes, it is almost an impossibility to prove sexual harassment by a woman, but Akpoti-Uduaghan’s boldness and the sheaves of evidence she claimed to possess to buttress her claim should be encouraged. No one must attempt a “family affair” settlement, or else one more rascally libido would be let loo loose.

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The Nigerian Senate has officially terminated the appointments of three Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) following a request from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. This decision was taken in line with Section 157(1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which provides for the removal of such officials on grounds of misconduct or inability to perform their duties.

The affected officials, as announced by Senate Majority Leader, include Dr. Nura Ali (Sokoto State REC), Barrister Hudu Yunusa Ari (Adamawa State REC), and Professor Ikemefuna Chijioke Uzochukwu (Abia State REC). The three officials had previously been suspended in 2023 over allegations of electoral malpractice, including election compromise, fraud, and dereliction of duty.

According to security reports from the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, and the Department of State Services (DSS), Dr. Nura Ali was indicted for allegedly manipulating the 2023 Presidential and National Assembly elections through incompetence and corruption. Reports indicate that he confessed to receiving $150,000 from politicians to influence election outcomes.

Barrister Hudu Yunusa Ari gained national attention when he was suspended by former President Muhammadu Buhari for unlawfully declaring a governorship election result—an action deemed outside his jurisdiction and in direct violation of electoral laws.

Similarly, Professor Uzochukwu was found guilty of mismanaging election logistics, abandoning the Governorship and State Assembly elections, and refusing to reschedule supplementary elections, which significantly disrupted the electoral process in Abia State.

Citing constitutional provisions, the Senate overwhelmingly voted with a two-thirds majority to approve their dismissal. The legislative body further directed the Clerk of the Senate to formally communicate the resolution to President Tinubu for immediate implementation.

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The bill, which underwent both second and third readings almost immediately after being transmitted by President Bola Tinubu, received unanimous approval from the upper chamber.

NLC Denies Agreement to Suspend Planned Strike

Following a clause-by-clause review in the Committee of the Whole, the bill scaled its third reading and was promptly passed into law.

Earlier in the day, President Tinubu had sent the bill to the National Assembly with a request for expedited consideration. His proposal sought to increase the national minimum wage from ₦30,000 to ₦70,000 and reduce the periodic review cycle from five years to three.

The bill’s rapid passage follows a significant agreement between the government and the Organised Labour. Last Thursday, after extensive negotiations, both sides settled on ₦70,000 as the new minimum wage.

This resolution came after months of stalled talks and a previous proposal from a tripartite committee that recommended ₦62,000. Labour had originally demanded ₦250,000, citing the unsustainability of the ₦30,000 minimum wage amid rising inflation and the removal of petrol subsidies.

Labour’s acceptance of the ₦70,000 wage was influenced by the President’s commitment to reduce the review period to every three years instead of five. Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) President Joe Ajaero confirmed that Labour rejected a conditional offer of ₦250,000 tied to increased petrol prices and accepted the ₦70,000 wage as a more feasible solution.

Ibadan Poly senior staff begin warning strike over non- implementation of minimum wage

The bill’s transmission to the National Assembly comes approximately six weeks after President Tinubu announced during his Democracy Day speech on June 12, 2024, that he would introduce an executive bill to update the national minimum wage.

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In a recent public hearing held by the Senate Committee on Employment, Labour, and Productivity, there was a call for the inclusion of domestic servants in the proposed 70,000 naira National Minimum Wage Scheme.

This proposal was discussed during deliberations on a bill aimed at providing for the domestication and registration of domestic workers and their employers in Nigeria.

Senator Osita Izunaso, who represents Imo West, and Geraldeen Etuk, the Acting National President of the National Council for Women Society (NCWS), were among the prominent voices advocating for this inclusion.

They argued that domestic workers, including housemaids and servants, should be covered by the new National Minimum Wage law.

“As a member of this committee, I feel strongly that part of the provisions to be included in this bill is to include the domestic workers be it housemaids or servants, in the proposed N70,000 National Minimum Wage Law,” Senator Izunaso stated.

He further emphasised, “As N70,000 is being planned to be the lowest wage for the lowest public workers, so should be the case for the least domestic workers. We are going to put it in the bill for implementation by all employers.”

Also, Senator Diket Plang, Chairman of the Committee, noted that an agency will be established to oversee the implementation of the proposed law.

The Ministry of Labour and Productivity will drive the operations of this new agency.

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