By Haruna Salami
The senate at plenary on Thursday has officially removed Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan (PDP, Kogi central) as chairperson of the Senate Committee on Diaspora and Non-Governmental Organisations, replacing her with Senator Aniekan Bassey (PDP, Akwa Ibom North-East).
President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, who made the announcement said the decision is to take immediate effect.
This development marks a significant shift in the ongoing tensions between Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan and the senate. The lawmaker, who had been at the centre of months-long controversies including her suspension from the senate has now been stripped of her last remaining leadership position within the senate.
The position of chairperson of the Diaspora and NGO Committee had remained vacant for months, following her suspension in March 2025, leaving the committee largely inactive and without direction.
It will be recalled that in February 2025, the senate undertook a mid-term reshuffling of its standing committees. As part of that shake-up, Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan was removed as chair of the Committee on Local Content, a strategic portfolio critical to Nigeria’s oil and gas governance and reassigned to the Committee on Diaspora and Non-Governmental Organisations, a move widely interpreted as a demotion at the time.
Unfortunately, her reassignment did not yield any operational outcome, as Akpoti-Uduaghan was suspended shortly afterward, following what Senate President Akpabio described as “unparliamentarily conduct” linked to her public criticisms of the senate’s leadership and internal decisions.
The Diaspora and NGO Committee is responsible for interfacing with Nigerian communities abroad, overseeing diaspora-related policy interventions, and engaging with non-governmental and civil society organisations. The committee also plays an advisory role in matters relating to diaspora remittances and humanitarian affairs.
The implication of Akpabio’s Thursday announcement is that upon the completion of her suspension period, Akpoti-Uduaghan will return to the Senate as a floor member, without any committee leadership role.