Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan Suspension Row: Only Senate Can Decide Her Fate, Says Office of CNA

By Onwe Wisdom|Pan Afric Reporters, NASS Abuja 

The lingering controversy over Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suspension has taken a fresh twist, as the Office of the Clerk to the National Assembly has hit back at her legal team, insisting that only the Senate or the courts can determine her resumption, not the Clerk.

In a press release signed by Bullah Audu Bi-Allah, Director of Information, the Clerk’s office dismissed what it called “misrepresentations” in the media and accused Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan’s lawyers, M. J. Numa & Partners LLP, of unfairly targeting the administrative arm of the legislature.

“To our dismay, the Office of the Clerk received a letter from Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s legal representatives, accusing this office of overreach and threatening legal and disciplinary action,” the statement revealed. “It must be stressed that the Clerk has at all times acted within lawful administrative limits, and in faithful observance of due process.”

Akpoti-Uduaghan, who was suspended by Senate resolution on March 6, 2025, attempted to resume plenary on September 4 after serving her six-month sanction hitted a stone wall. An attempt   analysts insists that it bypassed official protocol.

“Though she wrote to the Clerk, she also has the option of writing directly to the Senate President,” the statement noted. “The matter remains before the Court of Appeal, and any change in status must either come from a fresh Senate resolution or a definitive court order. The Clerk is therefore not in a position to facilitate her resumption at this time.”

Political observers say the development deepens the rift between Akpoti-Uduaghan and the Senate establishment, with the Clerk’s office now caught in the crossfire. By restating that “the Clerk does not possess the authority to review, reverse or interpret Senate decisions,” the statement underscores the Clerk’s adherent to the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Analysts believe this clash is more than a legal technicality. It exposes the raw power dynamics within the legislature where suspension and reinstatement are less about law and more about political muscle.

“The determination of whether Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan can resume her legislative duties … lies solely with the Senate and not with the office of the Clerk,” the statement emphasized, making it clear that the senator’s political battle is far from over.

For now, the Clerk has effectively thrown the ball back into the Senate’s court, leaving Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan to fight her way through the political trenches of the Red Chamber and the legal battlefield of the appellate court.

Below is the full print of the press release