Tension flared in the Senate on Monday as Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan protested her exclusion from the Senate Committee on the North Central Development Commission (NCDC), accusing colleagues of repeatedly curtailing her legislative rights.
Akpoti-Uduaghan, representing Kogi Central, reportedly arrived at the committee meeting prepared to participate but discovered she was not listed among invited members.
She immediately sought clarification from the Committee Clerk but was directed to the office of the Committee Chairman, Titus Zam.
An altercation broke out between aides from both offices, during which the chairman’s staff allegedly confronted Akpoti-Uduaghan’s media team and seized a cinematographer’s phone.
The Senator later contacted Zam, who said her exclusion was based on instructions from “higher authorities” but offered no further explanation.
Akpoti-Uduaghan described the incident as part of a recurring pattern of marginalisation in the 10th Senate and questioned the procedural and constitutional justification for her exclusion from a committee whose work directly affects her North Central constituency.
She emphasized that all senators are constitutionally equal in status and authority, pledging to continue advocating for equitable treatment and the respect of legislative mandates.
