Senator Aniekan Bassey has been appointed as the new head of the Senate Committee on Diaspora and Non-Governmental Organisations. The announcement was made by Senate President Godswill Akpabio during Thursday’s plenary session.
Bassey, who represents Akwa Ibom North-East Senatorial District, takes over from Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, whose position has been affected by her ongoing suspension from legislative duties. Akpoti-Uduaghan was reassigned to lead the Diaspora and NGOs Committee in February after she was removed as Chair of the Senate Committee on Local Content during a minor reshuffle within the chambers.
While the Senate leadership did not specify a formal reason for her replacement, it is widely believed that the development is linked to her unresolved suspension. Earlier in May, Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court had ordered her reinstatement and mandated her to offer a formal apology to the Senate as part of the resolution process.
Akpoti-Uduaghan, who represents Kogi Central, has yet to resume her legislative duties despite a recent court ruling that voided her suspension.
In a televised interview on Tuesday, she said she was awaiting the Certified True Copy of the judgment before officially returning to plenary, citing legal advice and respect for institutional process.
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Despite a Federal High Court ruling branding her suspension as both “excessive and unconstitutional,” a legal opinion issued on July 5 by the Senate’s counsel, Paul Daudu (SAN), contended that the judgment did not contain any enforceable order for her immediate reinstatement.
Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who is one of just three women currently serving in the Senate, lamented that the prolonged delay in her return was effectively stripping her constituents of their voice in national affairs.
She stressed that her exclusion went beyond personal injustice, describing it as a setback for gender representation in Nigeria’s legislature.
She said that by keeping her out of the chambers, the Senate was not only silencing Kogi Central but also denying Nigerian women and children proper representation. She noted that there were now only three female senators, compared to eight previously.