The main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has instructed Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan to ignore an official letter from the Clerk of the National Assembly and present herself for work, following the completion of her six-month suspension.
The party has condemned Senate’s attempt to prevent the senator from resuming her duties as a “clear and present danger to democracy” and a calculated move by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
The charge was contained in a statement signed by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Hon. Debo Ologunagba, signed the press release. The statement came after reports that the Clerk wrote to Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan, who represents Kogi Central, to inform her that she could not return to the Senate.
The PDP described this action as a gross violation of the Nigerian Constitution and the Standing Rules of the Senate. The party alleges that the move is being “orchestrated by the Senator Akpabio-led All Progressives Congress (APC) Senate leadership to abridge the right of representation of the people of Kogi Central Senatorial District and deny them a voice at the highest law-making body in the country.”
It stated that the attempt to use the National Assembly’s establishment against an elected senator is “highly provocative.” The PDP further claims this is part of a wider pattern by the APC-controlled government to suffocate opposition voices, which “further confirms the creeping totalitarianism in our country under the APC government.”
The statement also connected the incident to allegations of harassment against women, pointing directly at the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio.
“The reported action by the Clerk of the National Assembly against Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan further brings to the fore the allegations of attacks on the right of women and sustained attempts to stifle their voices as witnessed in the various accusations of harassment against women levelled against the current Senate President… over the years,” the party said.
The PDP demanded that the Senate President address these allegations instead of using the National Assembly’s administration to harass the senator. The party asserted that the “extreme persecution of six months suspension unjustly imposed on Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan, contrary to the Rules of the Senate is more than enough.”
In its statement, the PDP issued a strong caution to the Clerk of the National Assembly, urging him to remain neutral.
“Our Party strongly cautions the Clerk of the National Assembly to withdraw the said letter and play by the rules by being neutral as a bureaucrat and not allow himself to be politically entangled and used as a tool to undermine democracy and the Rule of Law in the National Assembly and Nigeria,” the release read.
The opposition party also called for international attention to the matter, asking the “International Community, Democracy Institutions, Right Advocacy Groups and other democracy development partners to rise up in condemnation of this renewed attack.”
The core of the PDP’s position is its direct instruction to the senator herself. The party is firmly backing her to return to the chamber, stating, “While charging Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan to discountenance the reported letter by the Clerk of the National Assembly and get ready to resume at the Senate, the PDP demands that the Senate leadership ensures that Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan is allowed to resume her duties and perform her roles as an elected Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria unhindered.”
This development sets the stage for a potential confrontation when the Senate next sits, as an elected senator is being charged by her party to defy parliamentary administration and assert her right to resume work.
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