{"id":347746,"date":"2025-09-12T01:21:55","date_gmt":"2025-09-12T00:21:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/?p=347746"},"modified":"2025-09-11T18:23:59","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T17:23:59","slug":"stopping-natashas-resumption-threatens-nigerias-democracy-adc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/?p=347746","title":{"rendered":"Stopping Natasha\u2019s Resumption Threatens Nigeria’s Democracy – ADC\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has called for the immediate reinstatement of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, representing Kogi Central, warning that continued obstruction of her return after a six-month suspension poses a threat to Nigeria\u2019s democracy and undermines women\u2019s participation in politics.<\/div>\n
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In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC expressed concern that preventing the senator from resuming her legislative duties violates democratic principles and disenfranchises her constituents.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe suspension, having been imposed by the Senate and not a court of law, has lapsed. Any further attempt to prevent her from resuming is therefore both illegal and morally indefensible,\u201d Mallam Abdullahi said.<\/p>\n

The party noted that denying Sen. Akpoti-Uduaghan access to the chamber silences the voice of the people who elected her, adding that the withdrawal of her salary, aides, and office access during the suspension amounted to excessive punishment.<\/p>\n

The ADC also criticised the Clerk of the National Assembly for declining to process her resumption on grounds that the matter was before the courts, arguing that the Clerk\u2019s role was administrative, not judicial.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdministrative caution must not translate into complicity. When the administrative machinery becomes hostage to political interests, the institution itself is diminished,\u201d the party stated.<\/p>\n

Highlighting that Sen. Akpoti-Uduaghan is one of only four women in the 109-member Senate, the ADC warned that the handling of the case sends a discouraging signal about gender inclusion in Nigerian politics.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny action that resembles gender intimidation of the few women in the Senate would only discourage women\u2019s participation. Nigeria cannot claim to be a democracy while excluding half of its population from key decision-making spaces,\u201d Mallam Abdullahi added.<\/p>\n

The ADC insisted that Sen. Akpoti-Uduaghan be allowed to resume her seat immediately, stressing that the matter was about more than one individual.<\/p>\n

“What is at stake here is not just one Senate seat, but the integrity of our democracy itself,\u201d the party said.<\/p>\n

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The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has called for the immediate reinstatement of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, representing Kogi Central, warning that continued obstruction of her return after a six-month suspension poses a threat to Nigeria\u2019s democracy and undermines women\u2019s participation in politics. In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-347746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=347746"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347746\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":347753,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347746\/revisions\/347753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=347746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=347746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=347746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}