The Ebira Community, under the auspices of the Kogi Central Elites Forum, has said the recall process for Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan was initiated by them and there is no going back on recalling her home.
In a statement signed by the President of the forum, Alh. Ibrahim Abdulazeez, and the Secretary, Prince Akerejola Johnson, made available to newsmen in Lokoja, said the constituents stand by the recall process because Senator Natasha caused them both national and international embarrassment.
The statement read: “Ebira indigenes have condemned, in strong terms, insinuations that the recall process against the lawmaker representing Kogi Central in the National Assembly, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, was not endorsed by the majority of the electorate in the area.
“The indigenes from across the five local governments of Kogi Central have resolved to bring the embattled senator back home through constitutional processes.
“We want Nigerians to disregard the deliberate mischief by a few sympathizers of Natasha suggesting that people were deceived into coming out for the recall exercise.
“No one is sponsoring this recall. Our people are largely united on this cause. From the history of the Ebiras, you know we cannot be deceived. What she has done has been mainly propaganda. Even some of us who supported her on social media then are no longer with her. We cannot trade the integrity of the state and Nigeria for the selfish, juvenile tendencies of a senator.
“A matter as simple as not taking an assigned seat in the Senate should not be one that would warrant a ‘sexual harassment’ national embarrassment of this nature, especially where all evidence points to blackmail. This is not who we are as Ebiras.”
On the issue of INEC disclaiming the exercise, the constituents said, “INEC has no official role until after this signature collection phase. We are the ones doing the recall, the petitioners. We have to ensure that the required threshold is met before formally presenting it for verification. This is where INEC comes in.
“For us as Ebira people, we are determined to bring Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan back home. While she is at home, she may learn the rudiments of representing her constituents better.
“Ordinarily, we would never have allowed anyone to intimidate our daughter if she was in the right. But in this particular instance, she disrespected the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which has clear rules, and went on to introduce slants that have never been heard of in the history of the Senate.
“We investigated, and we know the truth. Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan should come home and learn the art of lawmaking. It is not about content creation, as many people have said.”
Recall that the National Assembly has been hit by allegations of sexual harassment against Senate President Godswill Akpabio after Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan refused to respect the Senate rules and was penalised.
