The Senate has dismissed claims that the signatures of senators who did not endorse the suspension of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan were included in the report that recommended the disciplinary action against her.
The allegation was made by the Senator representing Edo North, Adams Oshiomhole, during an interview on AIT.
Oshiomhole had cited the case of the Senator representing the Federal Capital Territory, Ireti Kingibe, whom he said told him that she only signed the attendance register of the committee meeting and did not sign the report recommending Natasha’s suspension.
Reacting to the claim, Senate spokesman, Senator Yemi Adaramodu, described the allegation as strange, saying no senator had raised such a complaint before the chamber.
Adaramodu said if Senator Kingibe or any other senator had an objection to the procedure, the proper place to raise it would have been on the floor of the Senate, not privately to another senator.
“If Senator Kingibe had anything against any procedure, she would report it on the floor of the Senate, not to an individual,” he said.
He also denied that any signature was forged or that any senator was coerced into endorsing the committee’s report.
According to him, he was a member of the Ethics and Public Petitions Committee that heard the matter and there was no incident suggesting that any senator’s signature was fraudulently included.
“Nobody will say that he or she was coerced or somebody’s signature was forged; that has never happened in the Senate and it cannot happen. It has never happened,” Adaramodu said.
He added that senators are independent-minded and mature enough to personally raise objections where any infraction affects them.
“Senators are independent-minded people. We are mature men and women. And if you have any infraction against anybody, that person can, without any advocate from anywhere, show it. So there’s nothing like that. I’m just hearing it for the first time. That’s very strange,” he stated.
Despite dismissing the claim, Adaramodu said the Senate would look into Oshiomhole’s comment to establish the truth or otherwise of the allegation.
“We are going to look into it. We will take a stand and everyone will know where we stand. But we can say no senator has reported that his or her signature was forged during the Natasha matter,” he said.
The Senate spokesman further maintained that the matter was openly debated during plenary and in full view of Nigerians and the international community.
“It was debated on the floor of the Senate openly at the plenary in the full glare of every Nigerian and even the international audience, and so nothing to hide,” he added.
The controversy adds another layer to the dispute surrounding Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suspension, which has continued to generate debate within and outside the National Assembly.
