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Summary
The Senate has removed Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan as the chairperson of the Senate Diaspora and NGOs committee. The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, announced the elimination during the July 10 plenary session. Meanwhile, the Senate has refused to reinstate the Kogi central lawmaker, despite a court order.
In a show of injustice and deep reinforcement of patriarchal structure in the Nigerian political realm, the Senate has removed Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan as the chairperson of the Senate committee on Diaspora and NGOs during its Thursday plenary session.
At the close of the plenary session on July 10, 2025, the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, announced Senator Natasha’s removal without providing a formal explanation or justification. He said, “The new chairperson is Distinguished Senator Aniekan Bassey, and it is effective from today.”
Before she was appointed chairperson of the Senate Diaspora and NGOs committee on February 4, 2025, Senator Natasha was removed as the chairperson of the Senate Committee on Local Content and reassigned to chair the Diaspora and NGOs committee during a minor reshuffle in the Senate. With the recent removal, Senator Natasha no longer holds any leadership position in the Senate.
Earlier this month, Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court ordered Natasha’s reinstatement, mandating that she apologise to the Senate for her conduct. However, the Senate maintains that it has yet to receive a certified true copy of the court’s judgment. Thus, the house refused to reinstate her.
