Drama in Senate as Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan Protests Alleged Exclusion from NCDC Committee

There was mild drama at the Senate on Monday after Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, senator representing Kogi Central, protested what she described as her exclusion from the North Central Development Commission committee.

Akpoti-Uduaghan arrived at the committee meeting ready to take part in proceedings but discovered that her name was not included on the official attendance list. She immediately sought clarification from the committee clerk and was informed that he was in the office of Titus Zam, chairman of the committee.

The senator then proceeded to Zam’s office to seek answers. During the exchange, she alleged that the chairman said his actions were based on “instructions from higher authorities”, without giving further explanation.

Speaking afterwards, Akpoti-Uduaghan described the development as part of what she called a recurring pattern of marginalisation. She stressed that all senators are constitutionally equal in status, authority and mandate, and questioned the basis for her removal from a committee that directly affects the North Central geopolitical zone.

In a video that has since gone viral, she said she would not allow any senator to undermine the interests of her people. She insisted that no lawmaker is worth more than the citizens who elected them and declared that she would not accept being treated as a second-class representative.

The lawmaker also alleged that tensions rose when aides attached to the committee chairman confronted members of her media team. She claimed that about six aides, including the chairman’s secretary, seized her cinematographer’s phone and engaged in verbal hostility, which she described as unacceptable.

Akpoti-Uduaghan maintained that her protest was not personal but rooted in fairness and respect for the electoral mandate given to her by the people of Kogi Central.