Aisha Yesufu vows to stand by Sen. Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan amid senate opposition

Socio-political activist, Aisha Yesufu, has vowed to stand by Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan as the Kogi Central representative insisted on resuming her duties at the Senate despite opposition from the upper chamber.

Yesufu said that she and others would accompany Akpoti-Uduaghan to the National Assembly, asserting that the embattled senator has every right to resume office following a court judgment.

“I think Senator Natasha has every right to resume office, and by tomorrow she is not going to resume alone,” Yesufu said on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Monday.

“There are people who are going to go with her, and I’ll be one of them. We’ll be with her and stand with her. And if the Senate decides they are going to kill us, let them kill us, ” she added.

Yesufu condemned what she described as systemic discrimination against women in Nigerian politics.

“We are not even one-third. Out of 109 senators, we have only four women. Yet you go after them, you’re going after this particular lady who has done nothing other than discharge her duty the way it should be.

“Enough of us being treated in this country as if we are second-class citizens, ” she added.

Yesufu described Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suspension as unconstitutional and berated the Senate for disregarding a valid court ruling.

 “The suspension by the Senate is unconstitutional. It’s unlawful. It should never have happened in the first place especially coming from an institution supposed to uphold the constitution,” she said.

The activist accused the Senate of disobeying court orders and criticised the judiciary for yielding to political influence.

 “There was a ruling telling them to halt the suspension process, but they didn’t obey.

”The Senate is sending a message to Nigerians that it can act with impunity and disregard court rulings,” she said.

Meanwhile, Akpoti-Uduaghan has maintained her stance to return to the Senate on Tuesday, despite an appeal filed by Senate President Godswill Akpabio challenging the Federal High Court ruling that nullified her suspension.

The senator argued that the court judgment was in her favour, and she has a right to resume office.