By Nchetachi Chukwuajah
Chairman of the Senate Committee on the North Central Development Commission (NCDC), Senator Titus Zam, has said that the lawmaker representing Kogi Central, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, is not a member of the committee and was not invited to the commission’s budget defence.
Zam, who represents Benue North-West in the Senate, made the clarification in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday, February 17, in reaction to Akpoti-Uduaghan’s claims that she was a member of the committee.
Akpoti-Uduaghan had, on Monday, February 16, alleged that her name was omitted from the attendance register of the committee.
The committee had held its budget defence with the management of the commission, during which Akpoti-Uduaghan expressed anger that her name was not included in the attendance register.
Upon noticing the omission, she sought to consult the committee clerk to determine the reason for her exclusion but was informed that the clerk was in the office of the committee chairman, Senator Zam.
She subsequently proceeded to the chairman’s office for clarification.
However, in the ensuing exchange, tensions flared, with Akpoti-Uduaghan alleging that the chairman indicated his actions were based on instructions from higher authorities and provided no further details.
Akpoti-Uduaghan, in a statement issued on Monday by her media aide, Mike Idoko, said tensions escalated when aides attached to the committee Chairman confronted members of her media team.
Speaking on the matter, Zam insisted that Akpoti-Uduaghan was not a member of his committee.
He said: “She’s not a member of the committee and was not invited to the budget defence meeting.
“Two senators from Kogi are members. Indeed, Senator Isah Jibrin is the vice-chairman of NCDC, while Senator Sunday Karimi is a member.
“After the budget defence meeting, Senator Natasha came several hours later to complain about not being invited. I told her she’s not a member, so she couldn’t have been invited.
“Many other North-Central senators are also not members because senators from other zones in Nigeria are mixed into all the development commission committees for national character purposes.
“For example, Senator Pam Mwadkon from Plateau State is also not a member of NCDC, because Senators Diket Plang and Simon Lalong are members.
“She, as usual, ignorantly claimed that being from North-Central Nigeria, she ought to have been a member.
“A brief argument ensued, and I told her to approach the Senate Committee on Selection and lodge her complaint. After a back-and-forth movement, she left my office.”
