Senate Unlocks Senator Natasha’s Office After Six-Month Suspension

In what looks like a signs of reconciliation in the National Assembly, security operatives and the Sergeant-at-Arms on Tuesday unlocked Office 205 of embattled Kogi Central lawmaker, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The action effectively restores her entry into the Senate complex after months of restricted access, signalling that her rift with Senate President Godswill Akpabio may be nearing resolution.

According to parliamentary sources, the decision to reopen the senator’s office followed a closed-door meeting of the Senate leadership on Monday.

A motion for her formal reinstatement is expected when plenary resumes on October 7, 2025, with Senate Minority Leader Abba Moro tipped to move it after a public apology is tendered on her behalf.

“This is a step towards reconciliation. Leadership has decided that keeping her constituents unrepresented any further would be untenable,” a source disclosed.

Akpoti-Uduaghan was suspended for six months in March 2025 after a heated protest in the chamber over the reallocation of her seat on February 20, 2025.

She was stripped of her position as Chair of the Senate Committee on Diaspora and NGOs and barred from all 10th Senate activities for alleged breaches of the chamber’s Standing Orders.

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Although the suspension technically lapsed in September, she remained locked out amid legal battles and stiff opposition from Senate leadership.

In July, Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court, Abuja, ruled that the lengthy suspension was “excessive and unconstitutional,” stressing that it left Kogi Central constituents without representation.

Despite the ruling, the Senate insisted that she must serve the entire suspension period.

Legal pressure mounted again earlier this month when her counsel, Michael Jonathan Numa (SAN), wrote to the Clerk to the National Assembly (CNA), Kamorudeen Ogunlana, demanding her reinstatement by September 15, 2025, or face contempt proceedings.

Ogunlana replied that he lacked the constitutional authority to reverse Senate decisions, adding that only the chamber itself could act. The NASS Information Director, Bullah Audu Bi-Allah, also reinforced that the CNA’s office was purely administrative.

With Tuesday’s development, Natasha’s return now appears closer, though her formal reinstatement still awaits Senate approval when lawmakers reconvene in October.

The senator, who has remained vocal despite her suspension, is expected to return to her seat amid cheers from her supporters, ending one of the most controversial standoffs in the 10th Senate.