Senator Ireti Kingibe, representing the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has firmly denied endorsing a Senate committee report that recommended the suspension of Kogi Central lawmaker, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.
Kingibe insisted that she neither saw nor reviewed the document before its official submission to the upper legislative chamber.
She explained that she was physically absent during the preparation of the report and therefore could not have approved its controversial contents.
To clarify her whereabouts, the FCT senator noted that she only attended the initial committee meeting briefly to sign the attendance register.
She subsequently left the session to participate in a tax reform retreat, which she considered a higher priority due to its direct impact on her constituents.
Kingibe expressed surprise at the final document, stating that she was actively attending the retreat when she first learned about the report’s conclusion regarding Akpoti-Uduaghan.
Addressing the presence of her signature on the final draft, Kingibe acknowledged that a photocopy of her signature appeared on the document but maintained she did not sign the actual recommendation for suspension.
She revealed that she had complained bitterly to fellow lawmakers, specifically Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, about being left in the dark.
Kingibe emphasized that she has still not been shown the full report to this day, arguing that it is unlikely she would have knowingly signed off on such a decision without seeing the text.
The controversy prompted Kingibe to call for a sweeping overhaul of Senate committee procedures to ensure greater transparency.
She criticized the current practice where lawmakers are sometimes expected to sign documents without proper review, arguing that members must be given completed reports to thoroughly read before appending their names. “The truth of the matter is there are many, many things that I feel should not be the way they are,” Kingibe stated, urging for stricter adherence to standard legislative protocols.
Reflecting on the disciplinary dispute itself, Kingibe suggested that the entire crisis was entirely unnecessary and could have been resolved much earlier through standard Senate convention.
She noted that while legislative infractions can carry a three-month suspension, past disputes involving out-of-order conduct by other senators are traditionally settled immediately through a formal apology to colleagues.
Kingibe concluded that the situation escalated and dragged on simply because Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan chose not to tender a timely apology.
