Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, says any official probe by security agencies into Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s attendance at the Inter-Parliamentary Union, IPU, meeting in New York could bring unnecessary embarrassment to Nigeria.


Falana’s comment is coming following allegations by Senate President Godswill Akpabio that the senator’s actions humiliated the government and people of Nigeria after Akpoti-Uduaghan reported her suspension to the international body.

The female lawmaker had recently accused Akpabio of sexually harassing her.


The allegation came amid her seating arrangement altercation with the senate president at the red chamber.

Senator Natasha was subsequently suspended from the senate for gross misconduct over the debacle.

She spoke at the IPU meeting on March 11 about the suspension, telling the international body that the action was designed to silence her over the sexual harassment allegations.


The Department of State Services, DSS, and the National Intelligence Agency, NIA, have reportedly launched an investigation into how the Kogi senator attended the IPU meeting in New York without an official nomination.

However, in a statement issued on Sunday, Falana warned that the investigation by security forces risks exposing the country to needless embarrassment and undeserved ridicule.

“Finally, it is public knowledge that the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio had accused Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan of embarrassing the government and people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by reporting her suspension by the senate to the Inter-Parliamentary Union.


“Contrary to the jaundiced views of the senate leader, it is the official probe of the circumstances of her trip by security forces that will expose Nigeria to needless embarrassment and undeserved ridicule

“Therefore, the SSS and NIA may study the report of the investigation of our illegal travelling by the Sani Abacha military junta before embarking on the futile attempt to probe senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan for having the temerity to externalise the “internal affair of the senate,” Falana said

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has criticised the N70,000 new minimum wage approved for workers by President Bola Tinubu, describing it as grossly inadequate to cover workers’ basic needs, including transportation, food, and housing.

The former President accused labour leaders of betraying workers by prioritising personal interests over collective welfare.

“That is the situation in Nigeria in the third decade of the 21st century.

“The minimum wage does not even cover transportation costs for some workers, let alone food, housing, and family upkeep,” Obasanjo wrote in his newly released book, “Nigeria: Past and Future”.

In Chapter 17 of the book, Obasanjo accused labour leader of neglecting leaders while pursuing personal interests.

“Workers need more attention than they are getting. It is their right, and they have been denied it for too long. They have become victims of those meant to protect their interests.

“How did it happen that a trade union leader, while in office, was negotiating with a political party to be adopted as a gubernatorial candidate?

“Because of their political ambitions, most union leaders are ineffective compared to the founding fathers’ expectations.

“The workers thereby become victims of selfish leaders who use their positions to achieve political heights.

“Rather than negotiate in the interest of the workers, they do sabre-rattling and they are called into the room and money in large amounts is stuffed into their hands and they keep quiet.

“That has been the case since 2015. And, if anything, it is going from bad to worse.”

Obasanjo also criticised government officials who openly admitted to paying off labour leaders to stop agitation.

“How do we explain a senior official close to the President saying, ‘We have paid them to keep quiet and stop agitating’?

“What contributions are such labour leaders and their unions making to the country’s progress? You do not get the best from a frustrated and depressed worker.”

While acknowledging that anyone has the right to pursue politics, Obasanjo argued that it was unethical for labour leaders to use their unions as platforms for political advancement, as it creates a conflict of interest.

He proposed a law requiring labour leaders to wait at least five years after leaving office before participating in politics.

On July 29, 2024, Tinubu signed the N70,000 minimum wage into law after negotiations with organised labour and the private sector were finalised on July 18, 2024.

This concluded months-long talks in which Tinubu reduced labour’s initial N250,000/month demand to N70,000/month.

Before this, the country’s minimum wage stood at N33,000, signed into law by former President Muhammadu Buhari on April 18, 2019.

The Trade Union Congress (TUC) has waded into the trending issue of a corps member who allegedly got threatened by officials of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) for criticising the President Bola Tinubu administration.

TUC President, Festus Osifo, who was a guest on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, said that the corps member spoke out of frustration, advising the government not to go after her but to be tolerant of critics.

The Lagos-based NYSC member, Ushie Uguamaye, had taken to TikTok to criticise Tinubu’s government over hardship Nigerians face as a result of the administration’s economic reforms.

Her video went viral and got the attention on NYSC officials whom she later accused of calling her and issuing a threat to her to delete the video. NYSC is yet to release an official statement regarding the issue.

But the TUC boss said, “They (government) have to develop this resilience to understand that people are frustrated, people are hungry, people are tired. So, if they decide to vent, I strongly believe that the government should not personalise it and come after such individuals.

“Imagine a young lady carrying out her NYSC function, what does she really have to do to bring down government? So, it is about personal frustration that she has aired.

“So, I think that the government has to persevere much more, they have to be more tolerant, and they have to have this deep level of patient with Nigerians because people are passing through a lot as it stands today.”

The TUC boss, however, advised critics to always criticise the government within the expected norm and with some level of decorum.

In a statement released earlier on Sunday, Amnesty International also condemned the alleged threats and intimidation being faced by Lagos-based corps member.

It said that the Federal Government must stop threatening individuals and groups who criticise the current administration.

“The Nigerian authorities must stop responding with violence and threats to individuals and groups who express dissenting opinions — in utter disregard for Nigerian constitution and international law. Holding and voicing dissenting views is not a crime,” the organisation in a statement on its X handle.