The senator representing the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Ireti Kingibe, has said she never saw the committee report that led to the suspension of Kogi Central Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.
Kingibe made the disclosure during an interview on Arise Television on Wednesday night, June 17. She explained that she was away attending a tax reform retreat when the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions finalised its report.
“I never saw the report that led to Natasha’s suspension. I was there with three or four other senators who are members of the committee. We attended the Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions meeting, signed the attendance register, and I later left for the tax reform retreat, which I considered more important at the time.
“It affects my constituents much more than disciplining a senator, and I believed the other members of the committee would handle the matter,” she said.
The FCT lawmaker maintained that she could not have endorsed the committee’s findings or recommendations because the report was never presented to her.
“I even complained to other senators, specifically Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe. I complained to him very bitterly that I had not seen that report. I didn’t see it then, and I have not seen it till now,” she added.
Kingibe’s remarks come amid growing controversy in the Senate after Edo North Senator Adams Oshiomhole alleged during a separate television interview that the attendance signatures of some committee members, including Kingibe’s, were attached to the final report to suggest they had endorsed it when they had not.
However, the Senate leadership, through its spokesperson, Senator Yemi Adaramodu, has dismissed allegations of signature manipulation and procedural irregularities. Adaramodu insisted that the suspension process was conducted transparently and in full compliance with the Senate’s rules.
