FCT, Abuja – Atedo Peterside, founder of Stanbic IBTC Bank, on Sunday, March 9, criticised the Nigerian Senate.
In a post on his verified X (formerly Twitter) page, Peterside said the Senate leadership must be aware that the six-month suspension handed to Kogi lawmaker Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan is “ultra vires”.
Peterside also contended that the sanction is “disrespectful” to Akpoti-Uduaghan’s constituents in Kogi state.
The popular business owner tweeted:
“The most disturbing aspect of the Nigerian Senate hullabaloo around @NatashaAkpoti is that the Senate Leadership must be aware that her suspension for 6 months is ultra vires and also disrespectful to her constituents in Kogi State, but they don’t care #IStandWithSenatorNatasha.”
Legit.ng recalls that Akpoti-Uduaghan first made the sexual harassment accusation against one of the country’s top politicians, Godswill Akpabio, in an interview on Arise Television in February.
After dismissing her petition on procedural grounds, the senate’s ethics committee recommended Uduaghan’s suspension, saying she had brought ridicule to the upper chamber of the national assembly.
Some senators argued that her suspension be cut to three months but a majority voted to stick with the six-month suspension recommended by the ethics committee.
During her suspension, Uduaghan will be barred from the national assembly premises and her office will be locked.
Akpabio saga: Senator Natasha blasts Ekiti lawmaker
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan accused her colleague from Ekiti state, Senator Cyril Fasuyi, of “lying” against her.
Senator Fasuyi had said Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan, had in the past, made false and defamatory claims against ex-Ekiti governor, Kayode Fayemi when he served as minister of mines and steel development.
However, in a statement by Ahmad Sajoh, head of the Fayemi media office, the former governor stated that his past engagements with Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan “were strictly professional, and any differences that arose were purely based on divergent policy perspectives, not personal grievances.”
