Rita Amaechi
National News – The Senate has said it will review allegations by Senator Adams Oshiomhole (Edo North) that the names of some lawmakers were included in a committee report recommending the suspension of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan (Kogi Central) without their consent.
Senate spokesperson, Senator Yemi Adaramodu, disclosed this in an interview on Tuesday, stating that the upper chamber would examine comments made by Oshiomhole and determine its position on the matter.
“We are going to review any statements made by him. The Senate will take a cursory look at either extraneous, spontaneous or intentional comments from any senator appropriately,” Adaramodu said.
Oshiomhole had alleged that at least three senators whose names appeared on the Senate Committee report recommending Akpoti-Uduaghan’s six-month suspension neither signed the document nor endorsed its recommendations.
Reacting to the claim, Adaramodu said no senator had officially reported that his or her signature was forged during the proceedings that led to Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suspension.
“We are going to look into it. We will take a stand and everyone will know where we stand. But we can say no senator has reported that his or her signature was forged during the Natasha matter,” he stated.
The Senate spokesman noted that the issue was debated openly during plenary sessions and conducted in full public view.
“It was debated on the floor of the Senate openly at plenary in the full glare of every Nigerian and even the international audience. There was nothing to hide,” he said.
According to Adaramodu, the Senate’s decision on Akpoti-Uduaghan was based on established rules and procedures, stressing that lawmakers are bound by the institution’s regulations.
He also dismissed suggestions that senators could have been coerced or that signatures were falsified, describing such allegations as unprecedented.
“Nobody will say that he or she was coerced or somebody’s signature was forged. That has never happened in the Senate and it cannot happen,” he said.
“Senators are independent-minded people. We are mature men and women, and if anyone has an infraction against another person, that individual can raise it without any external prompting. I am hearing this allegation for the first time. It is very strange,” Adaramodu added.
The controversy follows Oshiomhole’s claim that some lawmakers discovered their names had been listed on the committee report despite not endorsing its contents, raising questions about the process that led to Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suspension.
The Senate is expected to review the allegation and make its position known in due course.
