Akpoti-Uduaghan was suspended for six months in March following a heated protest over the reallocation of her seat on February 20.
By Kehinde Okeowo
Security operatives and the Sergeant-at-Arms of the National Assembly on Tuesday unsealed office occupied by embattled Kogi Central lawmaker, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.
With this development, the Red Chamber has now granted the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senator access to her office and the National Assembly premises
The move also signals that the lingering rift between Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan and Senate President, Godswill Akpabio is easing.
According to parliamentary sources, the leadership of the upper chamber reached the decision at a closed-door meeting on Monday.
A motion is expected to be presented when plenary resumes on October 7, with Senate Minority Leader Abba Moro tipped to formally move for her reinstatement after a public apology.
Akpoti-Uduaghan was suspended for six months in March following a heated protest over the reallocation of her seat on February 20.
She was also removed as Chair of the Senate Committee on Diaspora and NGOs and barred from all 10th Senate activities for alleged breaches of the chamber’s Standing Orders.
Although the suspension technically lapsed in September, the senator remained locked out amid court battles and opposition from Senate leadership. She challenged the sanction in court, but initial efforts to overturn it failed.
In July, however, Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court in Abuja ruled that the lengthy suspension was “excessive and unconstitutional,” warning it left her constituents unrepresented.
Despite the verdict, her attempts to return to the legislative house were denied as Senate stood its ground, insisting that she serve her full term.
