FCT Senator Ireti Kingibe has said she did not sign the report that led to the suspension of Kogi Central Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.
Akpoti-Uduaghan was suspended by the Senate in February 2025 after a dispute with Senate President Godswill Akpabio. The investigation was handled by the Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Petitions, chaired by Senator Neda Imaseun.
Kingibe’s position comes amid claims that some lawmakers’ signatures on the disciplinary report were forged. She said she neither saw nor signed the final report.
Her comments followed a televised interview in which Senator Adams Oshiomhole said Kingibe had told him in 2025 that some senators’ signatures were attached to the report without their consent. Oshiomhole later withdrew the claim in a statement issued in Abuja.
Speaking on Arise News, Kingibe explained why she was absent from the final proceedings.
“I never saw the report that led to Natasha’s suspension. I was at a retreat. I had earlier stated that I was there with three or four other senators who are members of the committee.”
She said she signed the attendance register at the committee’s first meeting before leaving for a hearing on the tax reform bill.
“We attended the Committee on Petitions and Public Complaints, signed the attendance register, and I later left for the tax reform retreat, which I considered more important at the time,” Kingibe said. “It affects my constituents much more than disciplining a senator, and I figured that the other people who were part of that committee would take care of it.”
She added: “I even complained to other senators, specifically to Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe. I complained to him very bitterly that I had not seen that report. I didn’t see it then, and I have not seen it till now.”
Despite this, official records showed Kingibe’s name and signature as number 21 on the final report.
Meanwhile, Oshiomhole said: “The only comment I made is that one senator who is a member of the committee claimed that the attendance signatures of some senators were attached to the final report.” He added, “Any suggestion to the effect that I alleged that any senator’s signature was forged is completely untrue and should be disregarded.”
“Finally, I regret if my comment may have caused embarrassment to any senator or to the 10th Senate as an institution.”
