THE senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduagan, has declared that she is not afraid of anyone as she continues her suspension and recall process from the Nigerian Senate.
She stated this on Tuesday, April 1, at her homecoming rally in Kogi State.
The lawmaker’s stance followed the Kogi State Police Command’s directive that she cancel the rally.
Earlier, the state government, led by Governor Usman Ododo, had banned political gatherings in the state.
The government went as far as declaring a curfew in her Okehi Local Government Area (LGA), which many believed targeted the lawmaker’s planned rally.
Despite the restrictions on vehicle convoys, public gatherings, and curfew, she reached the venue of the rally through a helicopter.
Akpoti-Uduaghan is from the Ihima community in the Okehi LGA, where the rally was scheduled to be held.
Speaking at the event, witnessed by thousands of her supporters, Akpoti-Uduaghan said nobody could stop her from coming home.
“Nobody and nothing can stop me from coming home. I am an Ebira woman; this is my land. I am the daughter of the late Jimoh Abdul Akpoti. I know my roots; I’m not a bastard, and I’m not afraid of anybody,” she declared to a loud ovation from her supporters.
The ICIR reports that the Nigeria Police Force Command in the state, in a statement signed by its Public Relations Officer in the state, William Aya, and released to journalists on Tuesday, April 1, had called for the rally’s cancellation.
According to the statement, the Commissioner of Police in the state, Miller Dantawaye, said the rally was against the state government’s ban on political gatherings issued on Monday, March 31.
The police said its decision was based on an intelligence report indicating security threats in the state and the subsequent ban on all forms of rallies and processions by the state government.
The command noted that it would not hesitate to apply the full wrath of the law on anyone who caused disturbances of peace and order in the state.
The state government had on Monday banned all political gatherings in the state over what it called “security reports.”
The government, in a statement by the Commissioner for Information, Kingsley Fanwo, said the action was to avert any form of security breach that might destabilise the state.
The government claimed that intelligence reports indicated that some persons were planning to “stage some violent rallies in the guise of political and religious agitations” in the central senatorial district of the state.
The ICIR reports that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) confirmed the receipt of documents showing that the suspended senator’s constituents are recalling her from the National Assembly.
Akpoti-Uduaghan was suspended from the Senate in March due to an altercation she had with Senate President Godswill Akpabio over seating arrangements.
Following the altercation, which led to Akpabio ordering the sergeant-at-arms to eject her from the Senate Chamber, the female lawmaker accused the Senate President of sexual harassment.
Akpoti-Uduaghan was suspended from the Senate for six months because of her altercation with the Senate leadership, while the Red Chamber is currently probing her allegation of sexual harassment against its president.
Meanwhile, the female lawmaker has insisted that her visit to her district is to enable her to celebrate Eid-el-Fitri with her constituents.
She called on Nigerians to hold Governor Ahmed Ododo, former Governor Yahaya Bello, and the Senate President ‘wholly’ accountable for any violence that might arise during her homecoming rally.
In a Facebook post hours before the event, on Tuesday, Akpoti-Uduaghan urged her supporters to maintain a peaceful atmosphere during the visit, which she said was for the celebration of the Eid-el-Fitri.
She warned that if the rally was infiltrated by violence, the aforementioned political figures should be held responsible.
A reporter with the ICIR
A Journalist with a niche for quality and a promoter of good governance
Increasingly, the Nigerian federal government and state governments use tactics that are characteristic of feudalistic regimes even though we are constitutionally democracy, such as an elected civil government manufacturing fraudulent security reports to stop public discussions of civic events, these are chilling developments and they are losing credibility consistently. The President unconstitutionally declares a state of emergency in Rivers state and the clueless anti-democratic legislative houses whose powers were usurped simply support his unconstitutional declaration!
These are all disturbing signs.
One hopes that there are better days ahead for Nigeria, but these days are not good ones, because fraudsters are everywhere decent people should be leading.