Natasha boils over exclusion from NCDC budget session

There was a drama at the National Assembly after the budget defence session where N140 billion was approved for the management of the North Central Development Commission (NCDC) for the 2026 financial year.

Senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, confronted the office of the Senate Committee Chairman on NCDC, Senator Titus Zam, over scheduling of the meeting in her absence.

The session, scheduled for 10 am, ended shortly after 11 am.

However, Akpoti-Uduaghan, who arrived around noon, expressed displeasure that the exercise got concluded before her arrival.

She stormed out of the committee room and proceeded to the chairman’s office after a brief confrontation with some committee staff.

At the chairman’s office, she had an altercation with the secretary, while one of her aides brought out a phone to record the exchange.

An aide to Zam reportedly seized the phone, which triggered further tension.

While at the office, she spoke in high tones, saying, “You can’t continue to disrespect me like this,” before taking a chair and sitting in front of her colleague’s office, temporarily obstructing entry and exit.

As the situation escalated, she reportedly brought out her phone and announced she was going live on social media.

Zam’s secretary was said to have responded, “Must you go live on everything?”

The remark allegedly angered members of the senator’s team, and in the ensuing commotion, one of Akpoti-Uduaghan’s aides reportedly slapped the secretary.

This led to a physical fight amongst the aides.

Daily Trust learnt that Senator Zam did not appear at the scene throughout the incident.

Narrating her own side of the story, Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan raised concerns over what she described as a persistent curtailment of her legislative prerogatives in the 10th Senate.

The protest was said to have happened because of her alleged omission from the attendance register of the Senate Committee on the North Central Development Commission.

She had arrived at the committee meeting fully prepared to engage in proceedings, only to discover that her name was missing from the official attendance list.

Upon noticing the omission, she sought to consult the Committee Clerk to determine the reason for her exclusion.

She was said to have been informed that the Clerk was in the office of the Committee Chairman, prompting her to proceed there for clarification.

Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan described the incident as part of a recurring pattern of marginalisation, stressing that all Senators are constitutionally equal in status, authority, and mandate.

She questioned the procedural and constitutional justification for excluding her from a committee whose work directly affects her region in the North Central geopolitical zone.

Reaffirming her commitment to fairness and institutional integrity, Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan insisted that her demand was rooted in respect for the electoral mandate entrusted to her by the people of Kogi Central.

She pledged to continue advocating for equitable treatment whenever legislative rights are undermined. On Wednesday, Senator Natasha had engaged in a heated exchange of words with the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Mines and Steel Development, Senator Patrick Ndubueze, after nearly four hours of deliberations.

Meanwhile, the Senate has urged the management of the North-Central Development Commission to prioritise investments in agriculture and security in the implementation of its 2026 budget.

The chairman of committee stressed that the commission’s development mandate must address critical sectors of the economy.

Zam listed the priority areas to include agriculture, security, health, education, public infrastructure and social services.

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