The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has accused Senate President Godswill Akpabio of running a senate gradually plunging into an authoritarian entity over the continued persecution of Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, senator representing Kogi Central.
In a letter dated August 28, Akpoti-Uduaghan had in a letter notified Yahaya Danzaria, acting National Assembly clerk, of her intention to resume on September 4, the date she said marked the end of her six-month suspension.
However, the national assembly last Tuesday prevented Akpoti-Uduaghan from resuming legislative duties, insisting that her suspension is still a subject of litigation.
In a statement on Thursday, Joe Ajaero, NLC president, said the continued suspension of Akpoti-Uduaghan is a “brazen, premeditated assault on democracy” and a “dangerous slide towards fascism masquerading as governance”.
Ajaero described the decision to bar the senator from resuming constitutional duties as “morally reprehensible”, adding that the action has deprived her constituents of proper representation.
“The senate’s pathetic recourse to a frivolous legal technicality after the expiration of a patently illegal six-month suspension is the height of legislative bad faith,” the statement reads.
“It is a cynical ploy that reveals a sinister agenda to silence dissent, crush opposition, and manipulate the judiciary as a tool of political persecution.”
The NLC president said the refusal to obey a court ruling voiding the suspension is a direct attack on the people of Kogi central.
He accused the senate of “stealing the political representation” of the people, thereby disenfranchising them from lawmaking, oversight and appropriation of national resources.
“This action is a calculated test run for the emasculation of opposition and the subjugation of sovereign will as 2027 approaches,” Ajaero said.
He warned that Nigerians will not “stand idly by while you cannibalise our democracy”, adding that the labour movement will mobilise its membership to resist any descent into autocracy.
“An attack on one senator today is an attack on the sovereignty of every Nigerian voter tomorrow,” he added.
Meanwhile, Michael Numa, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and counsel to Akpoti-Uduaghan, has asked Danzaria to facilitate her resumption or face legal action.
In a letter dated September 10, Numa said the clerk’s claim that her resumption is blocked by sub judice was a “misuse of the rule”.
In February, Akpoti-Uduaghan and Akpabio had a heated exchange over a change in seating arrangements.
The upper legislative chamber later suspended the senator for “gross misconduct”.
On July 22, all gates to the national assembly complex were locked to prevent Akpoti-Uduaghan from entering the premises.
