Former Senator representing Adamawa North, Elisha Ishaku Abbo, has condemned the suspension of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan from the 10th Senate, describing it as politically motivated and legally questionable.
Abbo made the remarks during an interview on Arise News Channel’s PrimeTime show on Wednesday night, where he accused Senate President Godswill Akpabio of political bias and high-handedness.
According to Abbo, Akpabio’s handling of Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suspension lacked fairness, especially when compared to his own past conduct in the Senate. The former lawmaker recalled how Akpabio, during the 8th Senate, was involved in a dispute with then-Senate President Bukola Saraki, which was resolved amicably.
“In the case of Natasha, it took a different dimension,” Abbo stated.
“He sat like the emperor that he claims he is and said the woman should be suspended for six months, withdrew her security, stopped payment of her salary, barred her from being seen near the National Assembly building, and even ordered the Inspector General of Police not to provide her with security.”
The ex-lawmaker further argued that by withdrawing Akpoti-Uduaghan’s security, Akpabio had exposed her to danger.
“In another way, he exposed her to be killed. When you withdraw somebody’s security—which is not right—that means you are exposing her to be killed. The IG realised that it was not a good thing to do because if tomorrow they hear that Natasha is killed, something will happen,” Abbo added.
Questioning the legality of the suspension, Abbo drew comparisons between Akpoti-Uduaghan’s case and Akpabio’s own past disputes in the Senate, suggesting that the Senate President’s actions were hypocritical.
“If Akpabio was not suspended because of a seat in the 8th Assembly, why are you suspending Natasha for six months if your only motivation is because of a seat?” he queried.
Abbo also noted that Akpoti-Uduaghan had obtained a court injunction preventing the Senate from investigating her alleged misconduct until the substantive case was heard. However, he alleged that the Senate defied the court order.
“The Senate went against the court judgement and suspended her—that is contempt of court,” Abbo said. “It was after they finished suspending Natasha that they went to court to vacate the order barring them. And I’m sorry to use this word, but instead of arresting Akpabio for contempt of court, the judge cowardly vacated his own judgement and recused himself from the case.”
Addressing reports of a planned recall of Akpoti-Uduaghan from the Senate, Abbo dismissed the process as fraudulent, claiming that signatures were being forged to validate the recall.
“Senator Natasha should continue doing what she is doing,” he declared. “I heard that they want to recall her—nobody can recall Natasha. Take note and write it down, we are not a banana republic. They went to forge signatures.”
