Since the infamous “nightclub” remark in July last year, tensions between Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Kogi Central Senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, have been simmering.
That moment, in which Akpabio reprimanded her for speaking out of turn, foreshadowed a deeper conflict.
“Senator Natasha, you cannot speak without being invited. This is not a nightclub,” Akpabio had stated, sparking outrage and forcing him to apologize.
However, this exchange highlighted two key issues: Akpoti-Uduaghan’s disregard for legislative procedures and Akpabio’s tendency for off-the-cuff, sometimes flippant, remarks.
While some see Akpabio’s frequent jokes as harmless, his latest clash with Akpoti-Uduaghan suggests otherwise.
His verbal missteps have often landed him in trouble—such as when he jokingly told senators to check their accounts for a “monetary token” after a ministerial screening, only to retract it when he realized he was on live TV.
Nigerians, already struggling with economic hardship, found little humor in such comments.
This pattern continued when Akpabio joked that “the poor must be allowed to breathe” after the Senate rejected an electricity tariff hike in 2023.
Critics, including Labour Party’s Professor Pat Utomi, saw it as mockery rather than sympathy.
For Akpoti-Uduaghan, the latest confrontation came after her Senate seat was relocated following a routine restructuring.
Despite other senators being affected, she openly resisted the move, insisting on sitting in her previous spot—violating Senate protocol. This act, combined with her later allegations against Akpabio, escalated the dispute.
While she has raised concerns about gender discrimination and harassment, critics argue that she must also respect legislative rules.
As a senator and a lawyer, Akpoti-Uduaghan is expected to understand and follow parliamentary procedures.
However, her defiance has fueled speculation about whether this dispute is purely procedural or if deeper personal and political grievances are at play.
Regardless of the motivations, this power struggle underscores broader tensions within the Senate—between tradition and reform, authority and defiance, and personal ambition and public duty.
How it unfolds may shape the political landscape in the months ahead.
Leave a Reply