Senator Yemi Adaramodu, chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, has accused suspended Kogi Central lawmaker, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, of turning her bid to return to the National Assembly into what he described as “content creation and political theatre.”
Speaking on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme on Tuesday, Adaramodu said the lawmaker’s actions amounted to a deliberate spectacle aimed at public sympathy, insisting that parliamentary processes cannot be overridden by media dramatics.
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“The National Assembly at large has a lot of roles to play. We are legislators and lawmakers, not spectators to be watching skit-making and content creation,” he said.
According to the Ekiti South senator, Akpoti-Uduaghan’s attempt to resume plenary duties despite an unresolved suspension was in violation of legislative protocol.
“Initially, I said all these episodes and saga are about content creation. Now that the content has been created, it’s degenerating into a seasonal film,” Adaramodu stated. “We are not interested. We are lawmakers, not actors.”
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The remarks come amid public interest over the embattled senator’s claim that a court had quashed her suspension and affirmed her right to return to the Senate. Akpoti-Uduaghan maintains that the judgment legally reinstates her and should be honoured without further delay.
However, the Senate has not formally responded to the court ruling, nor has it issued a directive for her reinstatement.
Adaramodu stressed that court orders, regardless of their implications, must follow legal channels of enforcement and cannot be actioned unilaterally by a litigant. “Even when any litigant goes to court and gets judgment—either the person feels that this is an order when that is not an order—the litigant does not enforce the order by himself or herself. There are court bailiffs who will serve orders on those that should be served, as prescribed by the court.”
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While Akpoti-Uduaghan has garnered support from segments of the public and civil society groups calling for the respect of judicial authority, the Senate leadership appears unwilling to shift ground without procedural clarity.
Her suspension, announced in May, followed allegations of misconduct during a Senate plenary session, though the details remain vague.
As the political drama unfolds, it underscores an enduring tension between judicial pronouncements and institutional autonomy—raising fresh questions about how far a legislator can go in seeking redress outside the chambers of parliament.
In the meantime, Nigerians remain divided: is this a fight for justice, or simply another episode in the performative politics of the Fourth Republic?
