Kogi Central Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan on Thursday disrupted Senate proceedings in protest against the change of her seat in the chamber.
Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan, a member of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was moved from her original position on the second-to-last row of the minority section to the last row without prior information.
The senator who refused to comply with the rearrangement insisted on sitting in her former seat undermining the Senate rules requiring senators to occupy designated seats to be recognised to speak.
Akpoti-Uduaghan refusal to relocate prompted the Senate Chief Whip, Tahir Monguno, to cite Section 6(1) of the Senate Standing Rules, which grants the senate president the authority to reassign seats when necessary.
Monguno justified the seat change due to recent defections by opposition senators to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
He warned that failing to adhere to seating arrangements could lead to penalties, including being barred from participating in Senate discussions.
In response, the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, upheld Mr Monguno’s position, ruling against Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan.
However, she remained defiant, raising her hand to protest but was denied permission by the senate president to speak in line with the Senate’s regulations.
Despite the ruling, Akpoti-Uduaghan refused to vacate the seat. She instead raised her voice.
“I don’t care if I am silenced, I am not afraid. You have denied me my privilege,” she said.
In reaction, Mr Akpabio quickly switched off her microphone and directed the Sergeant-at-Arms to remove her from the chamber.
“Can the sergeant at arms please take her out of the Senate,” Mr Akpabio said.
The parliamentary security officers approached her, but she resisted.
Several senators also attempted to mediate and calm her, but she refused to back down.
This confrontation is the latest in clashes between Akpabio and Akpoti-Uduaghan.
In July 2024, she spoke on a motion without obtaining Akpabio’s permission, an action the senate president swiftly condemned. He compared the situation with a nightclub where anyone could speak at will.
Akpabio had also attempted to silence another female senator, Ireti Kingibe (Labour Party, FCT), who proposed providing amenities for fire victims in Karu market, Abuja.
Critics on social media have since accused him of attempting to marginalise and silence female senators.
The latest incident may not be divorced from the committee reshuffle at the upper chamber.
In what some perceive as retaliation, Akpoti-Uduaghan was recently removed as the chairperson of the Senate Committee on Local Content and reassigned to the Committee on Diaspora and Non-Governmental Organisations.
The former is considered a lucrative committee due to its oversight of oil agencies, leading many to speculate that her reassignment was politically motivated.
