Senator Natasha Breaks Silence: ‘Leaving Me Out Was No Accident’ In National Assembly Row

Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who represents Kogi Central at the National Assembly, has publicly addressed her recent clash with staff members over her exclusion from a Senate committee meeting. According to Ireporter Online, the confrontation arose after videos surfaced showing the lawmaker disputing with staff over her absence at the North Central Development Commission (NCDC) meeting, where lawmakers reviewed the Commission’s 2026 budget proposal.

In a statement shared via her Instagram page, Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan revealed that she only became aware of the meeting about twenty minutes before it ended. She noted that as a senator representing the North Central region, her participation was expected and crucial. The lawmaker stated that she was neither informed about the session nor included in the Senate’s NCDC communication platform, which serves as the official channel for meeting notifications and updates.

The senator added that her name was deliberately left off the attendance register for the budget screening, describing the omission as intentional rather than an oversight. She recounted proceeding to the committee chairman’s office to seek clarification, where she confronted what she described as an effort to sideline her and, by extension, the constituents of Kogi Central from the budgetary process. Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan emphasized her concerns, including the lack of notification, the absence of an invitation, exclusion from the committee register, and omission from official communication channels.