Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan of Kogi Central is set to appear before the Senate’s disciplinary panel following her strong reaction to the reassignment of her seat in the chamber.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio made the announcement on Tuesday, stating that the matter has been forwarded to the Senate Committee on Ethics, Code of Conduct, and Public Petitions for further review. The committee will investigate the incident and later report back to the Senate.
The issue began when Akpoti-Uduaghan’s seat was changed without her prior knowledge. She was moved from her original place in the minority section to the last row, a decision she openly opposed. Her resistance to the reassignment was seen as a violation of Senate rules, leading to the current disciplinary action.
During the session, Akpabio addressed the situation, noting that a motion had been put forward to refer the matter to the appropriate committee. He also mentioned an earlier instance where Akpoti-Uduaghan raised concerns about her seat placement.
The Senate President said: “There’s a motion before us that we should refer the entirety of the saga to our Ethics, Code of Conduct and Public Petitions, and then to revert back to us. But let me just read this for the record, even the first time the issue came up here our distinguished sister was not even speaking from her seat. And that was, that was when we tried to call her to order.”
