Laolu Akande, former spokesman to ex-Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, has criticised the leadership of the Nigerian Senate for restraining Kogi Senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, from resuming legislative duties after completing her six-month suspension.
Speaking on an interview programme on Channels Television on Friday, Akande described the move as “simply outrageous.”
He warned that the matter had now escalated beyond a dispute between Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Senator Natasha, amounting instead to a direct assault on the Senate’s role as a symbol of democracy.
“After the upper chamber of the National Assembly illegally suspended one of its own members for six months, the Red Chamber has now said even after the expiration of the six months, the Senator cannot resume work. This is simply outrageous,” Akande said.
The former presidential aide argued that the continued denial of Senator Natasha’s mandate amounted to a desecration of democracy, stressing that no group of senators had the constitutional authority to override the will of the electorate.
“What is now a certain desecration is the continued denial of the mandate of an elected Senator by the Nigerian Senate, preventing the Senator from doing what she was elected for.
“It is an aberration and it is totally unknown to democracy anywhere. The people cannot elect a representative and a group of Senators decide to prevent such a person from performing a duly delivered mandate. It is wrong,” he added.
