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Natasha to serve out suspension as Senate enters recess

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Two days after Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan was barred from resuming her duties, the Nigerian Senate, on Thursday, adjourned plenary till September 23, 2025, for its annual recess.

With the recess now in effect, the embattled Kogi senator is expected to serve out the remainder of her suspension until plenary resumes.

Akpoti-Uduaghan was suspended on March 6, 2025, for six months, following allegations of misconduct and insubordination during plenary on February 20, 2025, when she rejected a change to her designated seat.

The Senate had warned it might revisit her suspension if she failed to issue a formal apology.

The penalty was based on recommendations by the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, which found her guilty after investigating complaints against her.

The suspension was to last until September 6, 2025. However, with the recess, the embattled lawmaker would serve out her term.

Akpoti-Uduaghan, speaking to journalists on Tuesday after a failed attempt to enter the Senate chamber, described the Senate’s action as contemptuous and said she would seek legal redress at the appellate level.

“Even the suspension ab initio was fraudulent—the document was faulty,” she said.

“Going forward, I will have a meeting with my legal team so they can proceed to the appellate court to seek interpretation of what just happened. I am a law-abiding citizen.”

She also accused Senate President Akpabio of acting beyond his authority.

With the recess, however, the Senate would not reconvene until she had served out the full suspension slammed on her by the Red Chamber.

Announcing the break on the floor, Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, said the decision was based on “chamber reciprocity,” noting that the House of Representatives had already proceeded on recess in line with the legislative calendar.

“We have started a new calendar that will take us to next year, June. And so it has fallen within this period for us to go on for a break to enable us to undertake major oversights,” Akpabio explained.

He clarified that although plenary sessions would be on hold, committee assignments should continue during the recess.

“All necessary committees—the diaspora committee, committee on reparation, committee on interior and others—this is the best time for you to undertake visits to prisons and all that.

“Do all your reports and make them available as soon as we come back,” he directed.

The Senate President urged lawmakers to embark on oversight visits across the country, stressing that their duties must not be neglected.

“You are moving from plenary for the next few weeks, but you are not stopping your legislative functions, because that’s what your people elected you to do. Members are expected to travel to Sokoto, everywhere, to observe the road repairs that are going on.

“By the time we resume, you are expected to bring your reports, committee by committee, for us to look into. I want to wish you safe travels and for all of us to return in good health,” he added.

Akpabio also informed members of the death of Prof Janet Plang, wife of Senator Diket Plang.

He said arrangements had been made for senators to travel to Plateau State on Friday to attend the funeral, with a plane scheduled to depart Abuja at 8 am.

Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele commended senators for their dedication to legislative work.

“We thank all our colleagues for all they have done to ensure that the business of lawmaking on behalf of the government and people of Nigeria has progressed smoothly,” Bamidele said.

He thereafter moved a motion to defer all other matters on the order paper to the next legislative day, which the Senate adopted unanimously.

Natasha delayed at airport

In a separate development, the embattled senator was reportedly delayed at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, last Thursday while trying to board a flight to the United Kingdom.

A family source said immigration officers claimed she had been placed on a watch list at the instance of the National Assembly leadership.

“She was told that the leadership of the National Assembly requested that she be considered a flight risk and placed on a watch list,” the source said.

“We are wondering why they treated her that way, given there is no court order restricting her movement and she has never missed any of her court appearances.”

Eyewitnesses confirmed that Akpoti-Uduaghan appeared distressed and made a series of phone calls before she was eventually allowed to board after her passport was stamped.

When contacted shortly before takeoff, the senator confirmed the incident, saying, “The aircraft is about to take off.”

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Trump heads to Asia for Xi talks, eyes Kim

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US President Donald Trump headed for Asia on Saturday and high-stakes trade talks with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, saying that he would also like to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on his trip.

Trump is set to meet Xi in South Korea on the last day of his regional swing in a bid to seal a deal to end the bruising trade war between the world’s two biggest economies.

He will also visit Malaysia and Japan on his first trip to Asia since he returned to the White House in January in a blaze of tariffs and international dealmaking.

Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he hoped for a “very good meeting” with Xi, adding that he expected China to make a deal to avoid further 100 per cent tariffs that are due to come into effect on November 1.

As he left Washington, Trump added to speculation that he could meet Kim for the first time since 2019 while on the Korean peninsula.

“I would. If you want to put out the word, I’m open to it,” Trump said aboard the presidential plane. “I had a great relationship with him.”

Asked if he was open to North Korea’s demand to be recognised as a nuclear state as a precondition for talks, Trump replied: “Well, I think they are sort of a nuclear power… They got a lot of nuclear weapons, I’ll say that.”

The two leaders last met in Hanoi during Trump’s first term. Kim has said he would also be open to meeting the US president if Washington drops its demand that Pyongyang give up its nuclear arsenal.

Seoul’s reunification minister has said there is a “considerable” chance that Trump and Kim will meet while the US leader is in South Korea, mainly for a regional summit.

Trump’s first stop will be Malaysia, where he arrives on Sunday, for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit — a meeting he skipped several times in his first term.

Trump is set to sign a trade deal with Malaysia, but, more importantly, he will oversee the signing of a peace accord between Thailand and Cambodia in his continued quest for a Nobel Peace Prize.

He said he also expected to meet Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on the sidelines of the summit to improve ties with the leftist leader after months of bad blood.

Trump’s next destination will be Tokyo, where he arrives on Monday. He will meet conservative Sanae Takaichi on Tuesday after she was named this week as Japan’s first woman prime minister.

The US leader said he had “heard great things about her” and hailed the fact that she was an acolyte of assassinated former premier Shinzo Abe, with whom he had close ties.

Japan has escaped the worst of the tariffs Trump slapped on countries around the world to end what he calls unfair trade balances that are “ripping off the United States.”

However, the highlight of the trip is expected to be South Korea, with Trump due to land in the southern port city of Busan on Wednesday ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.

Trump will meet South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, address an APEC lunch with business leaders and meet US tech bosses for dinner on the sidelines of the summit in the city of Gyeongju.

He will meet Xi on Thursday for the first time since his return to office.

Global markets will be watching closely to see if they can halt the trade war sparked by Trump’s sweeping tariffs, especially after a recent dispute over Beijing’s rare-earth curbs.

Trump initially threatened to cancel the meeting and announced the fresh 100 per cent tariffs during that row, before saying he would go ahead after all.

He said he would also discuss fentanyl with Xi, as he raises pressure on Beijing to curb the trafficking of the powerful opioid and cracks down on Latin American drug cartels.

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Alassane Ouattara tipped for fourth term as Ivory Coast goes to polls

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Incumbent Alassane Ouattara is the overwhelming favourite to secure a fourth term in Ivory Coast’s presidential election on Saturday, a task facilitated by the barring of several key opposition figures.

Ouattara, 83, has wielded power in the world’s top cocoa producer since 2011, when the country began reasserting itself as a west African economic powerhouse.

His allies are targeting a decisive win in the first round to avoid a run-off vote.

Nearly nine million Ivorians will vote between 8:00 am (0800 GMT) and 6:00 pm, choosing between five contenders.

“It is hard to imagine any surprise at the end of this election… since opposition heavyweights aren’t present,” Gilles Yabi of think tank Wathi told AFP.

Leading rivals — former president Laurent Gbagbo and former Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam — have been barred from standing, the former for a criminal conviction and the latter for acquiring French nationality.

– Banned rallies –

Their parties have encouraged Ivorians to protest against this decision and Ouattara’s predicted fourth term.

Four people, including one policeman, have died in sporadic unrest, while on Monday an independent electoral commission building was torched.

The government has responded by banning demonstrations and the judiciary has sentenced several dozen people to three years in prison for disturbing the peace.

Some 44,000 security forces have been deployed across the country of 30 million to keep protests in check, especially in former opposition fiefdoms in the south and west.

A night-time curfew was in place on Friday and Saturday in Yamoussoukro region, where the political capital is located.

Authorities say they want to avoid “chaos” and a repeat of unrest surrounding the 2020 presidential election, in which 85 people died.

– ‘More fear than harm’ –

“I ask you to closely monitor your neighbourhoods… We must be ready to protect Ivory Coast,” Ouattara said during his final rally on Thursday.

“The election is frightening but we dare to believe there will be more fear than harm,” said Ibrahime Kuibiert Coulibaly, head of the Independent Electoral Commission.

On Wednesday, Gbagbo condemned the upcoming poll as a “civilian coup d’etat” and “electoral robbery”.

“Those who could have won have been eliminated. I do not accept this,” he said without giving clear directions to his supporters for Saturday’s ballot.

Turnout will be key.

Voters in southern and western regions that are historically pro-Gbagbo or pro-Thiam could shun the polls in the absence of voting instructions from their leaders.

Meanwhile, the ruling RHDP is hopeful for a strong showing in the pro-Ouattara north.

– Four candidates –

None of the four rival candidates represents an established party nor do they have the reach of the RHDP.

Former trade minister and agri-businessmen Jean-Louis Billon, 60, hopes to rally backers from his former stable, the Democratic Party.

Former first lady Simone Ehivet Gbagbo, 76, is looking to garner votes from supporters of her ex-husband.

The left-wing vote hangs in the balance between Simone Gbagbo and Ahoua Don Mello, a civil engineer and independent Pan-African with Russian sympathies.

Then there is centrist Henriette Lagou, a moderate who also stood in the 2015 presidential poll, garnering less than one percent.

Ouattara came to power in the throes of a crisis following the 2010-2011 presidential clash between him and Gbagbo, which cost more than 3,000 lives among their supporters.

The government points to several years of strong economic growth and general security, despite jihadist threats on its borders.

Critics deplore the fact that the undisputed growth has only benefitted a small portion of the population and has been accompanied by a spiralling cost of living.

Nearly 1,000 civilian observers from Ivorian society are monitoring the vote, alongside another 251 from west African economic bloc ECOWAS and the African Union.

Results are expected early next week.

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INEC unveils AI-powered virtual assistant ahead of Anambra gov election

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The Independent National Electoral Commission has introduced an artificial intelligence-powered virtual assistant to enhance staff training and operational readiness ahead of the Anambra governorship election scheduled for November 8.

The new digital tool, known as the INEC Training Virtual Assistant or “INECTrainingBot,” was unveiled on Friday.

Available on Telegram, the INECTrainingBot provides 24-hour access to election materials, interactive lessons, and on-demand learning modules.

It allows electoral officers to learn flexibly, from any location and at their own pace.

A statement by the commission via X read, “In preparation for the #AnambraDecides2025 election, the Independent National Electoral Commission is leveraging technology to enhance the capacity of its personnel and stakeholders.

“We are proud to introduce the INEC Training Virtual Assistant, ‘INECTrainingBot,’ now available on Telegram. This tool provides flexible, on-demand access to essential election training, ensuring our team can learn smarter and be fully equipped for their critical roles.

“Key Features: 24/7 Accessibility; User-friendly interface on Telegram; On-the-go learning.”

INEC had also announced that the distribution of Permanent Voter Cards for voters who participated in the recent Continuous Voter Registration in Anambra State will take place from October 22 to October 26.The commission also revealed that INEC will conduct a mock accreditation exercise on Saturday, October 25, in selected polling units across the three senatorial districts of the state.

The exercise, according to the commission, is intended to test the functionality of the upgraded Bimodal Voter Accreditation System and assess the real-time uploading of results to the INEC Result Viewing Portal.

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