Natasha: Senate should represent democracy, not dictatorship – Akande

Former presidential aide, Laolu Akande, has criticized the Senate leadership for blocking Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan from returning to work even after completing her six-month suspension.

Speaking on Channels Television, Akande described the decision as simply outrageous, saying the matter has gone beyond a clash between Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Senator Natasha.

He argued it was now an attack on the Senate itself as a democratic institution.

“After the upper chamber of the National Assembly illegally suspended one of its own members for six months, the Red Chamber has now said even after the expiration of the six months, the Senator cannot resume work. This is simply outrageous,” Akande said.

He warned that the refusal to let Natasha resume amounts to “a desecration of democracy.” According to him, no group of lawmakers has the constitutional power to override the decision of the people.

“What is now a certain desecration,” he declared, “is the continued denial of the mandate of an elected Senator by the Nigerian Senate, preventing the Senator to do what she was elected for. It is an aberration and it is totally unknown to democracy anywhere. The people cannot elect a representative and a group of Senators decide to prevent such a person from performing a duly delivered mandate. It is wrong.”

Akande also dismissed claims that the Senate rule book allowed such disciplinary measures. He insisted that lawmakers’ internal rules cannot outweigh the authority of voters.

“That rule book gets its powers from among the Senators themselves,” he said. “But there is a power of the electorate which is and must remain superior. Where is the power to subvert the will of the Kogi people?”

Natasha: Senate should represent democracy, not dictatorship – Akande