Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, representing Kogi Central, has been informed by the National Assembly (NASS) that she cannot yet resume her legislative duties, even after serving her six-month suspension. The NASS bureaucracy maintains that her suspension remains in effect as the legal case is still before the Court of Appeal.

Akpoti-Uduaghan was initially suspended by the Senate in March 2025 following an alleged misconduct incident involving a dispute with Senate President Godswill Akpabio over seat arrangements during a plenary session. Subsequently, she made sexual harassment allegations against Senator Akpabio, a petition that was later dismissed by the Senate Committee on Ethics. Dissatisfied with a Federal High Court ruling that favored the Senate regarding her suspension, Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan sought redress from the appellate court.

In a letter dated September 4, 2025, the Acting Clerk to the National Assembly (Ag. CNA), Dr. Yahaya Danzaria, acknowledged receipt of Akpoti-Uduaghan’s notification of her intended return to the Senate on the same date, which she cited as the end of her six-month suspension. However, the letter clarified that her suspension, effective from March 6, 2025, remains in force while the matter is subjudice. The letter stated, “The matter, therefore, remains subjudice, and until the judicial process is concluded and the Senate formally reviews the suspension in the light of the court’s pronouncement, no administrative action can be taken by this office to facilitate your resumption.” Dr. Danzaria assured that she would be duly notified of the Senate’s decision once the matter is resolved.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has strongly condemned the National Assembly's decision, describing Akpoti-Uduaghan's initial suspension as “unjust” and arguing that denying her resumption amounts to a further breach of the rights of her Kogi Central Senatorial District constituents to be represented in the Senate. Honourable Debo Ologunagba, PDP National Publicity Secretary, stated that this action by the Clerk “smacks of a calculated attempt orchestrated by the Senator Akpabio-led All Progressives Congress (APC) Senate leadership to abridge the right of representation” and “suffocate the opposition,” likening it to “creeping totalitarianism.”

The PDP emphasized that the attempt to use the National Assembly establishment against an elected Senator, in violation of the 1999 Constitution and Senate Standing Rules, is provocative and poses a danger to democracy. The party also connected the action to broader “allegations of attacks on the rights of women and sustained attempts to stifle their voices,” calling on Senator Akpabio to address the various harassment accusations against him. The PDP demanded that the Senate President “come clean” and urged the Clerk to withdraw his letter and remain neutral, warning against being used as a tool to undermine democracy. The party further called on the international community and rights advocacy groups to condemn this renewed attack on Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan, and encouraged her to disregard the Clerk’s letter and prepare to resume her duties without hindrance.