Afenifere scribe blasts Senate over decision to block Natasha’s resumption

… says decision is petty, oppressive, distasteful

The Secretary-General of the Pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, Chief Sola Ebiseni, on Thursday, condemned the decision of the Nigerian Senate to bar Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan from resuming her legislative duties despite the completion of her six-month suspension.

Speaking with journalists in Akure, the state capital, Ebiseni described the Senate’s stance as “petty, oppressive, distasteful and unacceptable,” stressing that the handling of the Kogi Central senator’s case has further diminished the image of the upper chamber.

According to him, the suspension, which officially lapsed on September 6, 2025, ought to have ended the matter.

He said, “At the end of the six-month suspension term, the cause of action in court has become otiose, the trial of which has become at best a mere academic exercise which the court would not waste its precious judicial time on.

“It is an embarrassing misuse of language to still describe the subject of such action as sub judice.”

The Afenifere scribe faulted the Senate’s insistence that Natasha could not resume on the grounds that her case was still in court.

He noted that the Federal High Court in Abuja had already frowned at the excessive nature of Natasha’s suspension but only refrained from outright nullification out of respect for the principle of separation of powers.

“The present decision is far beneath the status and stature of the Senate and its members. It reeks of pettiness and portrays Nigeria as a banana republic.

“The refusal to allow her resumption, even after serving the excessive penalty, is not only oppressive against the senator but also against the good people of Kogi Central who have been denied their constitutional representation,” he said.

Ebiseni warned that such actions set a dangerous precedent for sub-national legislatures and could be weaponised in the future against elected officials.

“As the apex chamber of the nation’s legislature, the Senate should be wary of creating an obnoxious precedent such that the sub-national assemblies may climb now or in the future.

“We hope that Governor Sim Fubara of Rivers State would not soon be told that he could not resume office because of the pending suit by the PDP governors,” he cautioned.

The Afenifere scribe urged the Senate to retrace its steps and uphold democratic principles, adding that Nigeria’s lawmakers must rise above vindictiveness and safeguard the integrity of the legislature.

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