The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has condemned Godswill Akpabio’s Leadership of the Senate in its decision to continue barring Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan from performing her sacred constitutional duties.
In a statement signed by the National President of the Labour Union , Comrade Joe Ajaero, on Thursday, said the act is not merely an error in judgment, but it is a brazen, premeditated assault on democracy itself and a direct threat to the social contract as well as a dangerous slide towards fascism masquerading as governance.
“That you suspended a fellow Senator from her constitutional roles, depriving her people proper representation, is not sinful enough, but you went ahead to ignore the rulings of the Court that voided her suspension, and at the expiration of your illegal suspension,
“You are still denying her a return is the height of impunity and morally reprehensible. This is no longer a democracy,” the Labour President added.
He said the Senate’s pathetic recourse to a frivolous legal technicality, claiming the matter is subjudice, after the expiration of a patently illegal six-month suspension, is the height of legislative bad faith.
“It is a cynical ploy that reveals a sinister agenda to silence dissent, crush opposition, and manipulate the judiciary as a tool of political persecution.
“This action, led by Senator Akpabio, constitutes a gross abuse of power that shames the hallowed chambers of the National Assembly and spits on the collective will of the people of Kogi Central who elected Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan.” He stressed.
The labour leader further stated that the action is a direct attack on the Nigerian people, adding that it is a declaration by a privileged political elite that they are not accountable to the citizens they purport to serve.
He warned that by willfully disenfranchising an entire senatorial district, the Senate is effectively stealing the political representation for which the people pay taxes.
“This denies Kogi Central its right to participate in lawmaking, oversight, and the appropriation of national resources, directly impoverishing the constituents and perpetuating a system of exclusion and economic injustice. It signals to all Nigerians that their votes are meaningless and can be invalidated by the whims of any tyrannical leadership,” said Ajero
He equally stated that the NLC stands on the side of democracy and wishes to state that this action is a calculated test-run for the emasculation of opposition and the subjugation of sovereign will as 2027 approaches.
“It is an attempt to punish integrity and honour and hound men and women of conscience out of the political space. A Senate that operates as a court in its matter, suspends members, and then ignores the expiry of its own sanctions, is a Senate that has declared war on the very principles of representative democracy and on our nation.” Part of the statement is also read.
NLC therefore warns the leadership of the National Assembly and their enablers: the Nigerian people, united across ethnic and religious lines, will not stand idly by while you cannibalise democracy.
They said the labour movement, as the historic defender of justice and the common good, will mobilise its immense membership and moral authority to resist this slide into autocracy , stressing that an attack on one senator today is an attack on the sovereignty of every Nigerian voter tomorrow.
