Senate removes Natasha as Chairman Committee on Diaspora & NGOs

The Senate has removed Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan from her role as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Diaspora and Non‑Governmental Organisations, appointing Senator Aniekan Bassey (Akwa Ibom North‑East, APC) as her successor.

Senate President Godswill Akpabio announced the development at Thursday’s plenary session.

Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan, who was suspended for six months in March for disorderly conduct during Senate proceedings, had already seen two committee reassignments earlier this year. Initially removed from the powerful Local Content Committee in February, she was reassigned to the Diaspora and NGOs committee shortly afterwards.

Although a Federal High Court later deemed the six-month suspension excessive and ordered her reinstatement, the certified copy of the court judgment has yet to be released, resulting in the continued uncertainty surrounding her supposed resumption.

In other news, President Muhammadu Buhari scandalised the OPL 245 transaction between Malabu Oil & Gas Ltd, Shell and Eni because he had a personal agenda, Mohammed Bello Adoke, former attorney-general of the federation (AGF), has alleged in a new tell-all book to be unveiled in Abuja on Thursday