Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has responded to the reopening of Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s office, senator representing Kogi Central.
On Tuesday, the senate, through Alabi Adedeji, deputy director and sergeant-at-arms, unsealed the office located in suite 2.05 of the senate wing, allowing the lawmaker to resume her legislative duties.
The office had remained locked since Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suspension from the red chamber on March 6, 2025.
Akpoti-Uduaghan was suspended for six months over alleged violations of the senate’s standing rules.
On July 4, the federal high court ruled the suspension was “excessive and unconstitutional”.
However, despite the judgment, the national assembly barred her from resuming on September 9, maintaining that the suspension was still under litigation.
‘UNITY CAN TRIUMPH OVER TYRANNY’
In a statement, Abubakar expressed confidence that Nigerians can defeat tyranny through unity.
“It is reassuring that the voice of reason has prevailed at last with the unsealing of the office of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan,” the statement reads.
“Though the precious time denied the people of Kogi Central in the Senate can never be reclaimed, this struggle has not been in vain. It has proven, once again, that when we stand together, we can triumph over tyranny.”
Abubakar also criticised President Bola Tinubu over the recently lifted emergency rule in Rivers, accusing him of undermining Nigeria’s democracy.
“The suspension of Governor Simi Fubara and lawmakers of the Rivers State House of Assembly, the unlawful suspension of Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan, and the weaponisation of state institutions to harass and intimidate opposition voices are not isolated acts,” Abubakar said.
“They are deliberate markers of the Tinubu administration’s strategy as 2027 approaches: to subvert our hard-earned democracy and compromise the will of the people at any cost.”
The former vice-president stressed that the opposition remains committed to lawful means of safeguarding democracy, defending the people’s mandate, and “rescue our nation from the grip of authoritarianism”.