The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has criticised what it described as a plot by the Senate to prevent Sen. Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan (PDP–Kogi) from resuming after serving a six-month suspension.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday, PDP National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, said the alleged action by the Clerk of the National Assembly was a deliberate attempt to deny the people of Kogi Central Senatorial District representation in the upper chamber.
He argued that using the National Assembly bureaucracy against an elected senator was a violation of the 1999 Constitution and the Standing Rules of the Senate.
According to him, such a move poses a clear danger to Nigeria’s democracy, undermines the opposition, and amounts to an attack on the rights of women in politics.
Ologunagba urged Senate President Godswill Akpabio to clarify his position on the matter, noting that the suspension earlier imposed on Akpoti-Uduaghan was unjust and already excessive.
He reaffirmed the PDP’s solidarity with the people of Kogi Central and other Nigerians in opposing what he called an “unwarranted renewed plot” against the lawmaker.
The party spokesman also called on the Clerk of the National Assembly to withdraw the alleged letter barring her resumption and to maintain neutrality as a bureaucrat rather than being used as a political tool.
He advised Akpoti-Uduaghan to ignore the reported communication and prepare to resume her legislative duties, while calling on the Senate leadership to ensure she was allowed to return without hindrance.
(NAN)