By Prosper Mene
In an open memo addressed to Senate President Godswill Akpabio, fellow senators, the judiciary, and Nigerian citizens, former Minister of Education Obiageli “Oby” Ezekwesili has called for the urgent recall of suspended Kogi Central Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, describing the Senate’s actions as a blatant “misappropriation of public office powers” and a direct assault on Nigeria’s democracy.
Ezekwesili, founder of the School of Politics, Policy and Governance (SPPG), issued the memo on Wednesday, marking exactly six months since Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suspension on March 6, 2025.
The PDP lawmaker was barred from the Senate following her public allegation of sexual harassment against Akpabio during a visit to his home in Akwa Ibom State. The controversy escalated from a dispute over her seating arrangement in the Senate chamber, which she claimed was an attempt to undermine her role.
In her letter, titled “A Memo to the Nigerian Senate, Judiciary and Fellow Citizens,” Ezekwesili accused the Senate of acting as both “accuser and judge,” prejudging the harassment claim before any proper investigation. She highlighted how the Senate Ethics Committee chairman dismissed Akpoti-Uduaghan’s petition as “dead on arrival,” declaring that Akpabio “could not have committed sexual harassment.” This, she argued, exposed a “system designed to protect power rather than pursue truth.”
The former minister condemned the Senate’s recent decision to extend Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suspension indefinitely, despite a July 4, 2025, Federal High Court ruling by Justice Binta Nyako that declared the initial six-month ban “excessive” and unconstitutional, ordering her immediate recall.
Akpabio has since appealed the judgment at the Court of Appeal, arguing that the matter is an internal legislative affair immune from judicial interference under Section 251 of the 1999 Constitution and the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act.
”This is a constitutional crisis,” Ezekwesili wrote, urging the Senate to “rescind your unconstitutional decision immediately” and recall the senator without delay. She warned that “democracy dies when laws become weapons and lawmakers become serial lawbreakers,” emphasizing that Akpabio and the 107 other senators are “not more powerful than Nigeria’s people.”
She also called on the Chief Justice of Nigeria and the National Judicial Council to intervene swiftly, noting that “judicial inconsistencies have emboldened the legislature to disregard the law” and that the judiciary’s credibility is at stake.
