‘I have not seen it till today’ — Kingibe speaks on Natasha suspension report

Senator Ireti Kingibe of the FCT is quoted to have said that she had not seen the report which led to the suspension of Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan for six months, a senator from Kogi Central, in 2025.

The remarks by Kingibe were made Wednesday when she appeared on Arise Television’s ‘Prime Time’ show.

“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.

The FCT senator said she, however, signed the attendance register before leaving for a tax reform retreat.

“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,” she said.

“It affects my constituents much more than disciplining a senator, and I figured that the other people who were not part of that committee would take care of it.”

Kingibe said she later complained to colleagues about not seeing the report before it was considered.

“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. I have not seen it till now,” she said.

This comes after Senator Adams Oshiomhole of Edo north stated that the signatures of at least three lawmakers in the report proposing the suspension of Akpoti-Uduaghan were either fabricated or wrongly put there.

In an interview on Monday on AIT, Oshiomhole stated that some senators who had been named in the report had privately admitted to him that they did not sign the document nor did they back its proposal.

Oshiomhole especially mentioned Senator Kingibe, stating that she was shocked to have seen her name among those who had signed the document.

However, the ex-governor of Edo State denied making such allegations on Wednesday.