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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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Mohbad’s father demands prosecution of daughter in law, auxiliary nurse, others

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Joseph Aloba, father of the late Nigerian singer, Ilerioluwa Aloba, popularly known as Mohbad, has urged the Lagos State Government to prosecute his son’s widow, Omowunmi Aloba, alongside others indicted by the Coroner’s Inquest into the artist’s death.

The demand was contained in a petition addressed to the state’s Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Lawal Pedro, SAN, and signed by Aloba’s legal counsel, Wahab Shittu SAN.

In the letter, Aloba specifically called for the prosecution of Feyisayo Ogedengbe, the auxiliary nurse who administered an injection to the singer shortly before his death in September 2023.

He also requested that other individuals present in Mohbad’s apartment at the time, particularly those who invited the nurse or failed to seek immediate medical help, to be brought to justice.

The petition referenced the Coroner’s verdict delivered in July 2025 by Magistrate Taofikat Shotobi, who found the nurse’s actions both “unlawful and professionally negligent”, citing her administration of injection without a doctor’s prescription.

Magistrate Shotobi further faulted Mohbad’s wife for opting to treat her husband at home rather than taking him to a medical facility.

Despite these findings, Aloba’s lawyer, Shittu expressed concern that more than two months after the Coroner’s report, the Lagos State Government has yet to initiate criminal proceedings against the indicted parties.

“Our client, as a bereaved father who seeks justice, is deeply troubled by the fact that, despite the clear indictments contained in the Coroner’s verdict, no prosecutorial steps have been taken since July 11, 2025,” the letter read in part.

The lawyer urged the Attorney-General to commence prosecution within 14 days, given the high sensitivity as well as the public interest surrounding the case.

Shittu further requested that if the state declines to act, the Attorney-General should grant his legal team a formal authorization to prosecute the matter on behalf of the state under the Administration of Criminal Justice Law of Lagos State.

 

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Alleged killing of Christians: Onanuga warns Senator Cruz as US lawmakers move to sanction Nigerian politicians

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Bayo Onanuga, spokesperson to President Bola Tinubu, has issued a stern warning to Senator Ted Cruz representing the State of Texas in the United States Senate.

Onanuga warned the lawmaker against propagating malicious lies against Nigeria on the issue of Christians being targeted in the country.

The presidential aide was reacting to Senator Cruz’s post on X where he accused officials in Nigeria of ignoring and even facilitating the mass murder of Christians by Islamist jihadists.

The lawmaker said that his “Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act would target these officials with powerful sanctions and other tools,” he wrote on X.

The lawmaker added, “It’s time to hold those responsible accountable.”

In a response, Onanuga wrote, “Senator, stop these malicious, contrived lies against my country. We do not have a religious war in my country.

“The degraded Boko Haram terrorists operating on the fringes of Nigeria’s North east target everyone. They attack farmers, our soldiers. The bandits in the North west kill worshippers in their mosques.

“Christians are not targeted. We have religious harmony in our country. Stop these malicious lies.”

 

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Police yet to receive court order on tinted-glass permits – FPRO

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The Nigeria Police Force has said it is yet to be served with the order of the Federal High Court stopping the enforcement of tinted-glass permits.

Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Benjamin Hundeyin, disclosed this on Saturday while reacting to reports that the court had restrained the police from arresting or prosecuting motorists over tinted glasses.

PUNCH Online reports that a Federal High Court had on Friday granted an order in Suit No. FHC/WR/CS/103/2025: John Aikpokpo-Martins v. Inspector-General of Police & Nigeria Police Force, directing the police to suspend enforcement of the permits pending the determination of the substantive case. https://punchng.com/court-suspends-police-tinted-glass-permit-enforcement/

The order asked the police to maintain the status quo, halting any action against motorists until the matter is concluded.

But Hundeyin, on X, said the police had not been formally served.

“While we have not been officially served the court order you’re making reference to, let me, in the meantime, show point number eight (of the same order) since you left that part out and focused only on point number six. Nigerians deserve a complete picture, not a skewed one,” he wrote.

The clarification followed claims by human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, who had circulated a portion of the ruling restraining the police from enforcing the regulation.

The police had in April 2023 announced the resumption of the permit scheme under the Police Specialised Services Automation Project after suspending it in 2022.

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