Natasha: “Complete misrepresentation,” Oshiomhole makes U-turn on senators’ forged signatures comment

Lawmaker representing Edo north senatorial district, Senator Adams Oshiomhole, has retracted his earlier suggestion that some senators’ signatures may have been forged or improperly included in the report that recommended the suspension of Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, senator representing Kogi central, in 2025. 

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Oshiomhole said his comments during an AIT programme on June 15 had been misrepresented.

“My attention has been brought to an obvious misrepresentation of the statement I made during the course of my interview on AIT ‘Politics Today’ broadcast on Monday 15th June 2026,” he said.

“To set the records straight, I wish to make the following clarifications.

“The insinuation that I said signatures of Senators were forged is a complete misrepresentation of what I actually said,” he said.

The lawmaker said he agreed with Yemi Adaramodu, senate spokesperson, who said no senator’s signature was forged during the Akpoti-Uduaghan suspension process.

“I agree absolutely with the spokesperson of the Senate, Distinguished Senator Yemi Adaramodu, that no signature of Senators was forged in Natasha Akpoti’s suspension,” he said.

“This is because, no Senator complained to me that his or her signature was forged.”

Oshiomhole said his only observation was that a member of the committee that handled the matter had claimed that attendance signatures were attached to the panel’s final report.

“The only comment I made is that one Senator, who is a member of the Committee ‘claimed’ that the signatures of attendance of some Senators were attached to the final report,” he said.

“Any suggestion to the effect that I alleged that any Senator’s signature was forged is completely untrue and should be disregarded.”

He added that the senate had moved on from the Akpoti-Uduaghan saga.

“As far as I am concerned, the issue of suspension of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan has been put to rest and the Senate has since moved on,” he added.

Oshiomhole said his remarks were made in response to comments attributed to Opeyemi Bamidele, senate leader, who reportedly described Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suspension as the “lowest point of the 3 years of the 10th Senate”.

“The context in which I made a comment on the Senator Natasha Akpoti’s issue was the AIT interviewer’s claim that Senate Leader Distinguished Senator Bamidele Opeyemi referred to the matter as the ‘lowest point of the 3 years of the 10th Senate’ to which I replied that ‘if indeed the Senate Leader said so, yes it should be taken seriously, because he is not given to frivolities’,” he said.

The senator reiterated that no lawmaker informed him that his or her signature had been forged.

“Once again, I emphasise that no Senator told me that his or her signature was forged,” he said.

Oshiomhole also expressed regret over the fallout from his earlier comments.

“Finally, I regret if my comments may have caused embarrassment to any Senator or the 10th Senate as an institution,” he said.

Oshiomhole had, during an interview on AIT, claimed that the signatures of at least three senators were forged or improperly included in the report that recommended Akpoti-Uduaghan’s six-month suspension.

The former Edo governor said some lawmakers whose names appeared on the report had privately told him they neither signed the document nor endorsed its recommendations.

Akpoti-Uduaghan was suspended in March 2025 over allegations of gross misconduct and unruly behaviour linked to her persistent accusations against Senate President Godswill Akpabio.

The suspension barred her from the National Assembly Complex, halted her salary and allowances, and led to the sealing of her office.