The Labour Party (LP) has demanded the immediate reinstatement of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, representing Kogi Central, following the expiration of her six-month suspension.
The call was contained in a statement issued on Saturday in Abuja by LP’s national publicity secretary, Tony Akeni.
Akpoti-Uduaghan was suspended in March. In a letter dated August 28, she notified the National Assembly of her intention to resume on September 4, which she said marked the end of the suspension.
But in a response dated September 4, the acting clerk of the National Assembly said the suspension remained in force pending the outcome of her appeal before the Court of Appeal.
Reacting, LP said it had been informed of the position of a US diplomat on the face-off between Senate President Godswill Akpabio and the Kogi senator.
The party noted that the diplomat shared a letter written by Fatoumatta Njai, a Gambian lawmaker and member of the Pan-African Parliament, condemning the Senate’s defiance of a subsisting court order that nullified Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suspension.
“In the view of the American diplomat, the ‘abuse of the rule of law by the Nigerian senate against a subsisting court judgment which, since July 4, 2025, nullified the suspension of Senator Natasha and implicitly ordered her unhindered return to the senate, is shameful for your country’,” LP quoted.
Njai, in her letter dated September 9, urged the Nigerian Senate to “immediately reinstate” Akpoti-Uduaghan, warning that defiance of court orders undermines democracy in West Africa.