Abuja, Nigeria: The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has strongly condemned what it describes as a calculated attempt by the Senate to prevent Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan (PDP–Kogi) from resuming her legislative duties following the expiration of a six-month suspension.
The party stated this in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, in Abuja on Tuesday.
Ologunagba said that the reported action by the Clerk of the National Assembly was a calculated attempt to abridge the right of representation of the people of Kogi Central Senatorial District and deny them a voice at the highest law-making body in the country.
He noted that the attempt to use the National Assembly establishment against an elected Senator was in gross violation of the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,1999 (as amended) and the Standing Rules of the Senate.
According to him, this constitutes a clear danger to the democracy of the country and an attempt to silence the opposition and attacks on the rights of women.
Ologunagba called on the Senate President, Sen. Godswill Akpabio, to come clean on the matter.
He said that the extreme persecution of a six-month suspension unjustly imposed on Akpoti-Uduaghan, “contrary to the Rules of the Senate,” was more than enough.
He expressed the PDP’s solidarity with the people of Kogi Central and all well-meaning Nigerians in condemning the unwarranted renewed plot against the lawmaker.
The PDP national publicity secretary called on the Clerk of the National Assembly to withdraw the said letter and play by the rules by being neutral as a bureaucrat.
He advised Clark not to allow himself to be politically entangled and used as a tool to undermine democracy and the Rule of Law in the National Assembly and Nigeria.
He also urged Akpoti-Uduaghan to discountenance the reported letter by the Clerk of the National Assembly and get ready to resume at the Senate.
He further called on the Senate leadership to ensure that Akpoti-Uduaghan was allowed to resume her duties and perform her roles as an elected Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria unhindered.