The Founder, College of Politics, Coverage and Governance, Dr. Obiageli ‘Oby’ Ezekwesili, has charged the Senate to recall Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan (PDP, Kogi Central) directly and stop its scandalous misappropriation of public workplace powers to interrupt legal guidelines and breach Nigeria’s Structure.
In an announcement she personally signed, the nation’s two-time minister urged Nigerians to unify their voices and take a collective stand in opposition to the persevering with constitutional assault, which, in accordance with her, has been ongoing for six months.
The assertion tagged ‘Senate’s Constitutional Overreach within the Case of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’ adopted the expiration of Akpoti-Uduaghan’s six-month suspension by the purple chamber after she accused the Senate President of sexual harassment.
Because the Senate appears to not be comfy with the presence of the Kogi senator after the suspension, Ezekwesili famous that democracy dies when legal guidelines grow to be weapons and lawmakers grow to be serial lawbreakers.
The Senate’s letter dated September 4, 2025, knowledgeable Akpoti-Uduaghan that her suspension would proceed indefinitely.
She said: “Six months have handed for the reason that unconstitutional suspension of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan on March 6, 2025. The senator representing the individuals of Kogi Central Senatorial District was suspended following her allegation of sexual harassment in opposition to Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
“These six months have witnessed an unprecedented assault on constitutional rules, judicial authority, and the very foundations of our democratic establishments. Relatively than transparently examine the allegation in opposition to the Senate President, an errant political class has used this chance to taunt residents on how efficiently they’ve captured the Nigerian state, perpetrating limitless abuse with zero accountability or worry of penalties.”
The Senate justified its newest choice with the declare that “the matter stays sub judice,” and that till the judicial course of is concluded, no administrative motion may very well be taken to facilitate her resumption.
“This reasoning is essentially flawed,” Ezekwesili argued. “The Senate can’t use pending litigation as justification to delay an already unconstitutional suspension that has exceeded its personal prescribed limits.
“When the Federal Excessive Court docket, presided over by Justice Binta Nyako, dominated that the six-month suspension was ‘extreme’ and violated constitutional rules, the court docket affirmed what authorized students had warned: the Senate’s motion exceeded cheap legislative self-discipline.”
Ezekwesili added that the court docket’s reasoning was unambiguous, as suspending a lawmaker for six months when the Nationwide Meeting sits for under 181 days yearly successfully denies constituents their proper to illustration for almost a whole legislative session.
“I needed to write this memo regardless of my thought-about choice to cease losing my effort on an evidently unreasonable political class. There’s enough purpose to imagine that these in energy have chosen self-destruction, and no counsel can cease them.
“But I make yet another try to warning in opposition to this newest democratic assault,” she wrote.
The previous Vice President of the World Financial institution charged the Senate to recall Akpoti-Uduaghan directly and exhibit that Nigeria’s dedication to justice, constitutional governance, and rule of legislation is substantive, not rhetorical. Finish this hubris now.
She cautioned: “Daily with out treatment chips away at democracy’s basis. Each second court docket orders are defied by these in energy teaches our youngsters that legislation is non-compulsory for the highly effective.
“Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan’s proper to renew duties was explicitly affirmed in Justice Nyako’s ruling. She has served out the unconstitutional suspension. Our collective defence of her rapid return defends each Nigerian’s proper in opposition to public energy abuse.”
