NLC Warns of Mass Action Against Senate Over Natasha's Suspension
- The Nigeria Labour Congress has warned it will mobilise nationwide action if Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan is not allowed to return to the Senate
- NLC accused the Senate of defying a court order and disenfranchising Kogi Central voters by blocking her resumption
- Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan has threatened legal action against the National Assembly if she is not reinstated when lawmakers reconvene on September 23
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The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has threatened to mobilise nationwide protests if Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan is not allowed to return to her legislative duties despite completing her suspension.
NLC President Joe Ajaero issued the warning in a strongly worded statement on Thursday, condemning what he described as a deliberate attempt by the Senate to subvert democracy.
Source: Facebook
Labour union issues stern warning
“We warn the leadership of the National Assembly and their enablers: the Nigerian people, united across ethnic and religious lines, will not stand idly by while you cannibalise our democracy. The labour movement, as the historic defender of justice and the common good, will mobilise its immense membership and moral authority to resist this slide into autocracy,” Ajaero declared.
He said the continued restraint on the Kogi Central lawmaker amounts to “a brazen, premeditated assault on democracy itself” and accused the Senate of abusing its powers.
The labour leader faulted the upper chamber for ignoring a court ruling that nullified the suspension and for refusing to reinstate the senator after the expiration of the punitive measure.
“That you suspended a fellow Senator from her constitutional roles depriving her people proper representation is not sinful enough but you went ahead to ignore the rulings of the Court that voided her suspension and at the expiration of your illegal suspension, you are still denying her a return is the height of impunity and morally reprehensible,” he said.
Source: Twitter
Court ruling and senate silence
Earlier in the week, Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan threatened legal action against the clerk to the National Assembly if she is not allowed to resume by Monday. Her lawyer, Michael Numa (SAN), made the demand in a letter dated September 10.
Although the Senate has yet to release an official statement, indications suggest that lawmakers may block her return when they reconvene on September 23, citing ongoing judicial proceedings.
Ajaero dismissed the Senate’s reliance on a pending court matter as a “frivolous legal technicality” and accused Senate President Godswill Akpabio of attempting to silence dissent.
He alleged that the leadership is “manipulating the judiciary as a tool of political persecution” and disenfranchising the people of Kogi Central.
Call to defend democracy
The NLC maintained that denying a duly elected senator access to the chamber is an attack on the sovereignty of voters and a dangerous precedent as the 2027 elections approach.
Ajaero vowed that the labour movement would resist any action that undermines representative governance, warning that Nigerians would not tolerate what he called “a test-run for the emasculation of opposition and the subjugation of sovereign will.”
Natasha gives senate ultimatum
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that the National Assembly had been directed to facilitate the return of suspended Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan before Monday, September 15, 2025.
Natasha issued this warning on Thursday, September 11, in a letter to the Clerk of the National Assembly, through her lawyer, Michael Jonathan Numa, SAN.
The lawyer threatened legal action against the Godswill Akpabio-led Senate, insisting Natasha's delayed resumption of duties in the Senate is unlawful
Source: Legit.ng
