Akpoti-Uduaghan Protests Exclusion from NCDC Budget Session, Cites Timing Dispute

Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan on Monday expressed anger after a budget defence session involving the North-Central Development Commission ended before she arrived, saying she was effectively excluded because of the meeting’s timing.

The session, held at the National Assembly of Nigeria, had been scheduled for 10:00 a.m. but concluded shortly after 11:00 a.m. The Kogi Central lawmaker reportedly arrived around noon and confronted the office of the committee chairman, insisting she had been left out of the exercise.

Sources said her protest was not about the ₦140 billion 2026 budget itself but about what she viewed as her exclusion from the session where the commission defended its estimates before lawmakers.

Earlier, Chairman of the Senate Committee on NCDC, Titus Zam, told journalists the panel reviewed all proposed expenditures and found them relevant to the development needs of the North-Central region. He added that the commission had been advised to prioritise agriculture and security when implementing the budget.

Comes Days After Committee Walkout

Monday’s incident follows a similar confrontation last week when Akpoti-Uduaghan walked out of a Senate committee session during deliberations with the Senate Committee on Steel Development.

At that meeting, she clashed with committee chairman Patrick Ndubueze after he moved to end questioning of the Minister of Steel Development, Shuaibu Audu, despite her request to continue speaking. She argued that she still had important issues to raise and accused the committee leadership of shutting her out before leaving the session.

The back-to-back incidents have drawn attention to procedural tensions within Senate committees, particularly over scheduling, speaking opportunities and member participation in oversight proceedings.