Tension briefly flared at the National Assembly on Monday as Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who represents Kogi Central, openly protested her alleged removal from the Senate committee overseeing the North Central Development Commission (NCDC), insisting she would not accept being sidelined or treated unfairly.
Gatekeepers News reports that the lawmaker said she arrived at the committee meeting ready to take part in the deliberations but was shocked to discover that her name had been omitted from the official attendance register. Efforts to clarify the development led her to the committee clerk, who reportedly informed her that he was in the office of the committee chairman, Senator Titus Zam.
Akpoti-Uduaghan subsequently proceeded to Zam’s office to seek an explanation. During the interaction, she alleged that the chairman attributed her exclusion to “instructions from higher authorities” but failed to provide further clarification or legal justification for the decision.
Describing the incident as another example of systematic marginalisation, the senator stressed that all elected lawmakers are constitutionally equal in status, rights, and responsibilities. She questioned the legality and fairness of her exclusion from a committee whose mandate directly affects the interests and development of the North Central region, particularly the people she represents.
In a video that later went viral, Akpoti-Uduaghan expressed strong displeasure over the situation, declaring that she would not remain silent while the interests of her constituents were undermined.
“I will not watch any senator here undermine my people. I will not have that. No senator here is worth more than my people. I will not tolerate that. I will not be undermined. It will never happen. I will not be treated like a second-class citizen,” she said.
She also accused aides attached to the committee chairman of harassing members of her media team during the confrontation. According to her, about six aides, including the chairman’s secretary, allegedly seized her cinematographer’s phone and verbally confronted her team, a development she described as unacceptable and unprofessional.
The Kogi senator reaffirmed her commitment to transparency, equity, and institutional integrity, noting that her protest was driven by respect for democratic principles and the mandate freely given to her by the people of Kogi Central.
She added that she would continue to stand firm against any attempt to marginalise her or deny her constituents fair representation in national affairs.
