The Chairman of the Senate Committee on the North Central Development Commission, Titus Zam, has dismissed claims by Kogi Central senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan that she belongs to the committee, insisting she was neither a member nor invited to its recent budget defence session.
Zam made the clarification in a statement issued Tuesday in Abuja, following the dispute that arose after the committee met with officials of the North Central Development Commission.
Akpoti-Uduaghan, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, had earlier protested that her name was missing from the attendance register at the meeting, prompting her to seek an explanation from the committee leadership.
According to her, the situation escalated when she attempted to verify the omission with the committee clerk and later went to the chairman’s office for clarification.
She alleged that tensions rose during the encounter and accused aides of the chairman of confronting members of her media team.
“About six aides, including the chairman’s secretary, seized my cinematographer’s phone and spoke to us in a hostile manner. This is unacceptable,” she said in a statement released by her media aide.
However, Zam rejected her claims and maintained that the senator had no formal role in the committee.
“She’s not a member of this committee and was not invited to the budget defence meeting,” he said.
“Two senators from Kogi are members — Senator Isah Jibrin, who serves as vice-chairman, and Senator Sunday Karimi.”
The Benue lawmaker explained that committee composition in the Nigerian Senate is structured to reflect national spread, meaning not every senator from a region is automatically included in commissions tied to that zone.
“Many North-Central senators are not members because lawmakers from other zones are also included for balance,” he said.
“She assumed that being from the region automatically made her a member, which is not the case.”
Zam added that after a brief disagreement, he advised the Kogi senator to channel any complaint through the Senate Committee on Selection, which is responsible for committee assignments.
