Defiant Natasha set to rejoin Senate plenary today after six-month suspension

Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, representing Kogi Central, is expected to rejoin plenary today (Tuesday) after serving a six-month suspension, setting the stage for a dramatic return to the red chamber.

Her lawyer, Victor Giwa, confirmed her resumption in an interview with The Puch Newspaper, stressing that the embattled lawmaker has fully served her punishment and is constitutionally entitled to reclaim her seat.

“To me, our client should just go straight and resume on Tuesday. Anything else they say is just an opinion. As Femi Falana said, the Senate cannot become an institution that legalises illegality,” Giwa argued, warning that any attempt to bar her entry would plunge the chamber into “total chaos.”

The Senate had earlier shifted its resumption from September 23 to October 7, extending its recess and stalling deliberations on pending national issues.

Akpoti-Uduaghan, who was suspended on March 6 over alleged misconduct during her protest against the reassignment of her seat by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, has remained one of the most vocal critics of the Senate leadership.

Two weeks ago, she was granted access to her locked office in Suite 2.05 of the Senate Wing by the Sergeant-at-Arms after her sanction elapsed. On that occasion, she described Akpabio as a “dictator,” declaring that she had “no apology to tender.”

“It is amazing how much we have endured in the last six months, from the unjust suspension to blackmail. But we survived. Senator Akpabio is not more of a senator than I am. He treated me like domestic staff in his house. That is totally unacceptable,” she fumed.

Despite her formal suspension ending in September, legal battles and Senate resistance delayed her return. But with the legislature reconvening today after its long recess, attention will be firmly fixed on whether Akpoti-Uduaghan is allowed to march back into plenary or be barred once more at the gates.

Efforts to reach Senate spokesperson Yemi Adaramodu and the media aide to the Senate President for comment were unsuccessful.