Natasha Suspension: Senate Set for Showdown Over Oshiomhole’s Signature Claim

Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Kogi Central Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan and Edo North Senator Adams Oshiomhole

Natasha Suspension: Senate Set for Showdown Over Oshiomhole’s Signature Claim

Emergency plenary convened as lawmakers weigh probe into allegations questioning Senate integrity

The Nigerian Senate is bracing for a potentially explosive emergency session on Tuesday, June 23, 2026, as lawmakers prepare to address allegations made by Senator Adams Oshiomhole regarding the controversial suspension of Kogi Central Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan. Multiple sources within the National Assembly have confirmed that the issue is expected to dominate proceedings when senators reconvene for the emergency plenary summoned by Senate President Godswill Akpabio. While the session was officially called to address rising insecurity across the country, political attention has increasingly shifted to the implications of the growing tension between Akpabio and one of the most influential members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

The crisis erupted after Oshiomhole, representing Edo North, alleged during a television interview that the signatures of at least three senators were either improperly attached to or appeared on the committee report that recommended Akpoti-Uduaghan’s six-month suspension. The former Edo State governor claimed that some lawmakers whose names appeared on the document had privately informed him that they neither signed nor endorsed the recommendations contained in the report, and he specifically referenced Senator Ireti Kingibe, who represents the Federal Capital Territory, as one of the lawmakers who allegedly raised concerns about the document. Oshiomhole further suggested that attendance registers may have been attached to the final report in place of actual endorsements.

The allegations immediately triggered an uproar within the Senate, with leadership dismissing the claims as “spurious, bewildering, and unthinkable.” Senate spokesman, Senator Yemi Adaramodu, insisted that no senator had officially reported any signature forgery regarding the Natasha matter and stated that the Senate would review any statements made by Oshiomhole and take a cursory look at either extraneous, spontaneous or intentional comments from any senator appropriately. The Senate spokesperson maintained that the business of the Senate is conducted transparently “in the full glare of the media and willing Nigerians,” and that decisions are taken after exhaustive debates, including disciplinary issues, adding that no senator had at any time, either in Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suspension or any other matter, forged the signature or misrepresented any senator.

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Amid growing backlash, Oshiomhole issued a public clarification, insisting he never accused anyone of forgery and stating in a personally signed statement that his comments had been misrepresented and taken out of context. He explained that his comments were based on a claim allegedly made by one committee member that attendance signatures of some senators were attached to the final report, and emphasised that no senator complained to him personally about forged signatures. Oshiomhole agreed absolutely with the spokesperson of the Senate that no signature of senators was forged in Natasha Akpoti’s suspension, because no senator complained to him that his or her signature was forged.

The controversy widened following Senator Ireti Kingibe’s comments, which appeared to support aspects of Oshiomhole’s claim, as she disclosed during a television interview that she never saw the committee report that formed the basis for Natasha’s suspension. According to her, she was attending a retreat on tax reform when the report was being considered and therefore had no opportunity to review the document before the matter was concluded, and she had earlier stated that she was there with three or four other senators who are members of the committee. Kingibe explained that she attended a session of the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, signed the attendance register, and later left to participate in the tax reform retreat, which she believed was more important to the people she represents, and she further disclosed that she complained to colleagues about not having access to the report, specifically mentioning Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, and stated that she complained to him very bitterly that she had not seen that report and had not seen it till now.

A source familiar with developments told PUNCH that the emergency session called by the Senate President may provide an opportunity for the chamber to address the controversy and determine its next course of action, explaining that Akpabio called off the recess and summoned an emergency session under the guise of attending to the issue of rising insecurity across the country. Although the Senate leadership has not officially confirmed that Oshiomhole’s comments will be discussed during the plenary, Adaramodu indicated that the chamber would not ignore allegations that question the integrity of its proceedings, describing such an allegation as spurious, bewildering and unthinkable, and stating that the public should disregard and treat this as an ignoble outburst while the Senate would look into it and take a stand.

Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan was suspended in March 2025 after the Senate adopted the committee’s recommendation, finding her guilty of alleged gross misconduct and unruly behaviour, following a highly publicised clash with Senate President Akpabio in which Natasha accused him of victimisation while the Senate insisted its decision was strictly based on violations of Senate rules. The sanctions imposed included the withdrawal of her salaries and allowances, closure of her National Assembly office, and restriction from accessing the legislative complex for six months, and the matter recently returned to public attention after Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele described the suspension episode as one of the lowest moments of the 10th Senate.