Tension erupted in the Senate Committee on the North Central Development Commission (NCDC) on Monday after Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan (PDP, Kogi Central) staged a protest over her exclusion from the committee’s activities, highlighting concerns about the curtailment of her legislative rights in the 10th Senate.
The incident occurred when Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan arrived at a committee meeting, fully prepared to participate, only to find that she was not listed among the invited members. Seeking clarification, she attempted to consult the Committee Clerk but was informed that the Clerk was in the office of the Committee Chairman, Titus Tartenger Zam. She then proceeded to the chairman’s office with some of her aides, where an altercation reportedly ensued between her staff and those of the committee chairman, a confrontation partially captured on video.
Following the incident, Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan contacted Chairman Zam, who indicated that his actions were based on instructions “from higher authorities” but provided no further details. The senator described the episode as “part of a recurring pattern of marginalisation” and emphasized that all senators are constitutionally equal in status, authority, and mandate. She questioned the procedural and constitutional justification for her exclusion from a committee whose work directly impacts her North Central constituency.
Regarding the altercation, Akpoti-Uduaghan alleged that tensions escalated when aides of the Committee Chairman confronted her media team, seizing her cinematographer’s phone and engaging in verbal hostility, an action she condemned as unacceptable.
The senator reaffirmed her commitment to fairness and institutional integrity, stressing that her demands reflect respect for the electoral mandate entrusted to her by the people of Kogi Central. She pledged to continue advocating for equitable treatment and to defend her legislative rights whenever they are undermined. Senator Zam was unavailable for comment at the time of filing this report.
