An elected female member of parliament in The Gambia and Chairperson of the Gender and Children’s Welfare Committee of the Gambia Parliament, Hon Fatoumatta Njal, has called on Nigeria’s Senate to reinstate Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.
Likewise, the Founder, School of Politics, Policy and Governance, Dr Obiageli ‘Oby’ Ezekwesili, has urged the Senate to recall Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan without delay and cease its scandalous misappropriation of public office powers to break laws and breach Nigeria’s Constitution.
In a letter to the Senate, Njal, a former member of the Ecowas Parliament and current member of the Pan African Parliament wrote that: “As only 3 female out of 53 elected members, I take this opportunity to raise the lone voice of female representatives in the subregion” adding: “Today it Is the distinguished senator Natasha Akpoti Uduaghan, tomorrow it could be me.”
Stressing, “I believe that after the six months of unlawful suspension, she must be reinstated with Immediate effect,’ Hon. Njal pointed out that: “On 4th July 2025, Hon. Justice B.F.M. Nyako delivered judgment on the high-profile suit filed by Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduagha.”
Her letter further reads: “On the suspension matter, the court held that to suspend a member for a period of 6 months equals to a suspension for 180 days, and this is the same number of days a member is expected to sit in the House, representing his people and that the court found excessive and over reaching noting that it will prevent a member from complying with Section 63 of the 1999 Constitution.
“The courts further stated that the Senate had the power to, and it believed then that the Senate should have recalled Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, allowing her to resume representing the people who sent her there to represent them.
“The Senate, the second arm of the Federal Republic, as well as the legislative arm, should have seen to adhere and respected the court’s judgment. However, it blatantly refused to obey. I call the attention of the senate that in law, one must obey orders and then challenge a court order If need arises.
“Irrespective of this principle, the Senate refused the Distinguished Senator admission to the premises on the 22nd July 2025. In the same regard, the Senate, in total disregard of its own Standing Orders, has now extended the unlawful suspension beyond the stipulated six months.
“This is a total affront to the rule of law and disregard to the court’s ruling of the same court the senate is relying on to extend the suspension.
“The 5enate should know that leadership is not about silencing voices, especially those who dare to & speak truth with courage and Integrity.
“The fact that Senator Natasha’s only crime was to speak truth to power is a strong signal of the Senate’s move to silence dissenting voices.
“Senator Natasha represents not only her constituents but also the hopes of millions of women and youth, not only in Nigeria but the world at large. Women and youths who believe in justice, transparency, and equal representation.
“Her continued exclusion from the Senate is not only an affront to her rights but a denial of the democratic principles that binds Nigeria as a nation.
“As the largest country in the Ecowas, Nigeria must take the role of parent nation and set good example at Ecowas level. “I therefore call on the leadership of Senate of Nigeria to honor the rule of law and the timeline of Senator Natasha’s unlawful suspension.
“The Six months is over and as a woman in leadership, a woman that respects the Nie of law, a Woman that believes in the empowerment, the protection of the rights of women and most importantly, a woman that yearns for more women representation in elective positions, I firmly call on the immediate recall of the Senator as I believe that Justice delayed is justice denied.
“Senator Natasha must be allowed to resume her duties immediately without any further delay. Nigeria needs all its voices at the table, especially those that dare to challenge the status quo and stand for her fundamental human rights. Let us not be silent when injustice speaks the loudest. Let us stand for what is right. I herby submit my demands.”
On her part, Ezekwesili called on Nigerians to unify their voices and take a collective stand against the continuing constitutional assault, which, according to her, has been ongoing for six months. The two-time minister, in a statement tagged ‘Senate’s Constitutional Overreach in the Case of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’, noted that democracy dies when laws become weapons and lawmakers become serial lawbreakers.
She stated, “Six months have passed since the unconstitutional suspension of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan on March 6, 2025. The senator representing the people of Kogi Central Senatorial District was suspended following her allegation of sexual harassment against Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
“These six months have witnessed an unprecedented assault on constitutional principles, judicial authority, and the very foundations of our democratic institutions. Rather than transparently investigate the allegation against the Senate President, an errant political class has used this opportunity to taunt citizens on how successfully they have captured the Nigerian state, perpetrating unlimited abuse with zero accountability or fear of consequences.”
The Senate justified its latest decision with the claim that “the matter remains sub judice,” and that until the judicial process is concluded, no administrative action could be taken to facilitate her resumption.
“This reasoning is fundamentally flawed,” Ezekwesili argued. “The Senate cannot use pending litigation as justification to prolong an already unconstitutional suspension that has exceeded its own prescribed limits.
“When the Federal High Court, presided over by Justice Binta Nyako, ruled that the six-month suspension was ‘excessive’ and violated constitutional principles, the court affirmed what legal scholars had warned: the Senate’s action exceeded reasonable legislative discipline.”
Ezekwesili added that the court’s reasoning was unambiguous, as suspending a lawmaker for six months when the National Assembly sits for only 181 days yearly, effectively denies constituents their right to representation for nearly an entire legislative session.
“I had to write this memo despite my considered decision to stop wasting my effort on an evidently unreasonable political class. There is sufficient reason to believe that those in power have chosen self-destruction, and no counsel can stop them. “Yet I make one more attempt to caution against this latest democratic assault,” she wrote.
The former Vice President of the World Bank charged the Senate to recall Akpoti-Uduaghan without delay and demonstrate that Nigeria’s commitment to justice, constitutional governance and rule of law is substantive, not rhetorical.
End this hubris now. She cautioned, “Every day without remedy chips away at democracy’s foundation. Every moment court orders are defied by those in power teaches our children that law is optional for the powerful.
“Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan’s right to resume duties was explicitly affirmed in Justice Nyako’s ruling. She has served out the unconstitutional suspension. Our collective defence of her immediate return defends every Nigerian’s right against public power abuse.”
