Following her return from the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) convention in New York, suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan claimed that there were intentions to arrest her, but the Nigerian Senate rejected her assertions.
Adeyemi Adaramodu, the Senate spokeswoman, confirmed in a statement issued on Monday that the legislative body and Senate President Godswill Akpabio were not involved in the accusations.
Adaramodu disputed Akpoti-Uduaghan’s claims, saying, “She’s looking for her lost content creation needle in a haystack.”
“There is no longer any reason for the Senate President and the Nigerian Senate to join forces in opposition to her.”
Akpoti-Uduaghan had earlier asserted that she was being arrested when she arrived in Abuja and that Senate President Akpabio had sent personnel to take her from the UN building in New York.
She further insisted that, in spite of her Senate ban, she had a right to attend the IPU gathering.
Her charges were refuted by Adaramodu, who implied that she was being held accountable for her own statements made at the IPU meeting.
She should spare the Senate, which is unwilling to join her on such a vile journey, he said, if she is still troubled by her unguarded vituperations against Nigeria at the IPU in distant New York.
In an interview with Premium Times on Sunday, Akpoti-Uduaghan clarified that she had signed up for the IPU event online.
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In response to questions concerning the controversy surrounding her attendance without permission, she restated her assertion that she was being prepared for arrest upon her return.
“I know that arrangements are in motion to have me arrested as soon as I get to Abuja. I was evacuated from the United Nations premises immediately following my address by three staff members sent by Senate President Akpabio, who was led by the Chargé D’Affaires of the Nigerian embassy in New York.
“Policymakers from other nations and the security forces saved me,” she said.
The Senate insists that it has no justification for taking up the issue further in spite of these assertions.
