Natasha Akpoti Uduaghan v Senate: NLC vows to resist Akpabio’s undemocratic move

By Kingston Magare 11.9.2025
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) said Thursday it would mobilise its members to resist what the organisation described as autocratic rule of the Nigerian Senate by Senator Godswill Akpabio.
Suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti Uduaghan was block by the Senate from resuming on September 13 after the period of her suspension for the national assembly expired.
The NLC in a statement signed by its president Joe Ajaero, described the action as a brazen, premeditated assault on democracy, a direct threat to the social contract, and a dangerous slide towards fascism masquerading as governance.
“That you suspended a fellow Senator from her constitutional roles depriving her people proper representation is not sinful enough, but you went ahead to ignore the rulings of the Court that voided her suspension and at the expiration of your illegal suspension, you are still denying her a return is the height of impunity and morally reprehensible. This is no longer democracy.”
The NLC said the Senate’s pathetic recourse to a frivolous legal technicality, claiming the matter is subjudice, after the expiration of a patently illegal six-month suspension, is the height of legislative bad faith.
“This action, led by Senator Akpabio, constitutes a gross abuse of power that shames the hallowed chambers of the National Assembly and spits on the collective will of the people of Kogi Central who elected Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan.
The organised labour noted that from its standpoint, this action is a direct attack on the Nigerian people.
“It is a declaration by a privileged political elite that they are not accountable to the citizens they purport to serve.
“By willfully disenfranchising an entire senatorial district, the Senate is effectively stealing the political representation for which the people pay taxes.
“The NLC stands on the side of democracy and wishes to state that this action is: a calculated test-run for the emasculation of opposition and the subjugation of sovereign will as 2027 approaches.
“It is an attempt to punish integrity and honour and hound men and women of conscience out of the political space. A Senate that operates as a court in its matter, suspends members, and then ignores the expiry of its own sanctions, is a Senate that has declared war on the very principles of representative democracy and on our nation.”