Natasha alleges omission from Senate Committee attendance register, confronts chairman

The Senator representing Kogi Central, Sen. Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, on Monday alleged that her name was omitted from the attendance register of the Senate Committee on North Central Development Commission (NCDC).

Our correspondent reports that the committee, chaired by Sen. Titus Zam (APC-Benue), had earlier in the day held a defence session with NCDC management.

Sources told our correspondent that Akpoti-Uduaghan had reportedly arrived at the venue only to discover that the session had already concluded.

The sources further stated that when she and her aides sought to meet with the committee chairman in his office, they were denied access.

The situation escalated when Zam’s secretary reportedly seized the phone of one of Akpoti-Uduaghan’s cinematographers.

Akpoti-Uduaghan expressed concerns about what she described as repeated attempts by colleagues to undermine her legislative work.

“I will not watch you people treat me anyhow,” she said, without providing further specifics”.

The senator also described the incident as part of a recurring pattern of marginalisation in the upper chamber.

During the confrontation, another lawmaker intervened in Zam’s office in an attempt to calm the situation.

Our correspondent reports that a similar heated exchange had also occurred between Akpoti-Uduaghan and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Steel Development, Sen. Patrick Ndubueze, during the committee’s budget defence session last week.