Politics
Natasha vs Akpabio: Middlebelt Vanguard decries intimidation, discrimination against women in leadership
Following the altercation between the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who represents Kogi Central Senatorial District, over seat allocation in the Red Chamber on Thursday, a non-governmental organization, the Middle-Belt Vanguard, has condemned the alleged rampant intimidation and discrimination against women in leadership.
The group also called on the Senate to serve as a platform for integrity, justice, and fairness, rather than one of intimidation and humiliation.
President of the group, Godwin Meliga, in a statement signed and released to journalists in Abuja, criticized Akpabio for publicly humiliating the senator, citing a previous incident where he made disparaging remarks about her speaking without recognition.
According to Meliga, the Senate President’s behavior was not an isolated event.
“On February 20, 2025, Akpabio reallocated Senate seats but failed to consult or notify the affected senators, including Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan,” he stated.
Meliga pointed out that while the Senate President has the authority to assign seats, fairness and due process dictate that senators should be informed beforehand.
He said: “Senator Natasha was unfairly silenced when she tried to address the issue, with her concerns dismissed on the grounds that she was not seated in her assigned spot.”
This, Meliga argued, was an example of a double standard, especially since Senator Akpabio himself had previously raised similar concerns during Bukola Saraki’s tenure as Senate President and was allowed to speak even from an unassigned seat.
He questioned why the same privilege was not extended to Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan, describing it as a clear case of discrimination.
The group, therefore, urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, fellow senators, and Nigerians to stand in solidarity with the Kogi lawmaker and ensure she receives the respect and fairness she is entitled to as an elected representative.
Meliga reassured Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan to remain resilient in the face of adversity, asserting that her service to the people of Kogi Central should not be undermined.
He further declared that the Middle-Belt Vanguard would not tolerate any form of discrimination against women in leadership, nor the erosion of democratic principles in the country.
FCT Minister and former governor of Rivers state, Nyesom Wike, has said that any senator, House of Representatives Member, Minister, or governor who supports betrayers will suffer betrayal in their lives and that such person will join their creator when they experience their own betrayal.
Wike who is currently in a running battle with his godson and incumbent governor of Rivers state, Sim Fubara, said this while speaking at a public function in the state today February 6.
Speaking to the crowd at the public function, Wike said
‘’Wether you are a Senator, House of Reps member, a Minister or Governor, and you support betrayers, people will continue to betray you in life. You see people who betray and support them, betrayal is your portion! Betrayal is your portion! and that day you will not have mouth to say anything and there you will collapse and there you will go and they will announce such person has died because that is the seed you have planted because whatever you plant, you reap and so since you are sowing betrayal, betrayal will always follow you.
Watch! Every governor who is doing his second term and has ambition to put a successor and is supporting betrayals, you will never survive it. Betrayal will follow you. From the day your successor comes in. My own took so many months, your own will start immediately the person has been inaugurated. That is what the gods of the land have told me to tell all of you’’
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Chairman, Policy Manifesto Committee of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, John Odigie-Oyegun, says former president Muhammadu Buhari gave him the shock of his life, six months into his administration as Nigeria’s leader.
Oyegun made this disclosure on Friday when he featured in an interview on Arise Television’s ‘Prime Time’.
He revealed that as National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, he went to tell Buhari that he was not delivering his election promises to Nigerians but that the late president told him he would not rule with strictness, but rather wanted to show Nigerians that he is a true civilian president.
The former APC National Chairman lamented that it became business as usual, from there.
“I was national chairman of the APC. Six months or less into our assuming office, fairly alarmed, I went to the late President Buhari for a one-on-one talk. I said Mr President, this is not what the people were expecting. They wanted a bit of the old president Buhari.
“And he explained to me, Mr Chairman, I have learned my lesson. I was shocked. And don’t forget at that time, a lot of prominent Nigerians took their holidays abroad, just to be sure and see what this new sheriff in town will be.
“Buhari told me he wants to now show the people that he’s a true civilian president in Agbada. And by the time we finished the conversation, I said Oh God, we are finished. Because, if he’s not ready to be strict, what’s the point?
“Weeks later, months later, years later, I was proven correct. And of course, it became business as usual, only that they are a new set of tenants in Aso Rock. That was a shocker,” he said.
Former lawmaker, Dino Melaye Esq, has raised concerns over the Senate’s reported rejection of the electronic transmission of election results.
The move, according to Melaye, is a clear endorsement of election rigging and an indication of a sinister plan to rig the 2027 elections.
In a statement on Friday, the former lawmaker criticized the Senate’s decision, stating that it undermines the credibility of the electoral process.
The African Democratic Congress, ADC chieftain, also stated that the move opens the door for electoral manipulation and fraud.
He further warned that the rejection of electronic transmission of results is a step backwards for democracy in Nigeria.
Melaye called on lawmakers and citizens to stand up against “this blatant attempt to undermine the will of the people and ensure that future elections are free, fair, and transparent”.
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