The Chairman of the Senate Committee on the North Central Development Commission (NCDC), Titus Zam, has clarified that Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan (PDP–Kogi Central) is not a member of the committee, contrary to her recent claims.
Zam, who represents Benue North-West in the Senate, made the clarification in a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday while responding to Akpoti-Uduaghan’s allegation that her name was omitted from the committee’s attendance register during a recent budget defence session.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Akpoti-Uduaghan had on Monday expressed dissatisfaction after discovering that her name was not listed in the attendance register when the committee met with the management of the North Central Development Commission for its budget defence.
Reacting, Zam maintained that the Kogi Central senator was neither a member of the committee nor invited to the meeting.
“She’s not a member of the committee and was not invited to the budget defence meeting,” Zam stated.
He explained that two senators from Kogi State are members of the committee. “Sen. Isah Jibrin is the Vice Chairman of the NCDC Committee, while Sen. Sunday Karimi is also a member,” he said.
Zam further disclosed that Akpoti-Uduaghan arrived several hours after the budget defence had concluded to protest her exclusion.
“After the budget defence meeting, Sen. Natasha came several hours later to complain about her not being invited. I told her she’s not a member, so she couldn’t have been invited,” he added.
The committee chairman noted that not all senators from the North Central geopolitical zone are members of the NCDC Committee, explaining that committee memberships are structured to reflect national character, with senators from other zones included in various development commissions.
“For example, Sen. Pam Mwadkon from Plateau State is not a member of NCDC, because Senators Diket Plang and Simon Lalong are members,” Zam said.
He added that a brief argument followed, after which he advised Akpoti-Uduaghan to direct her concerns to the Senate Committee on Selection.
“I told her to approach the Senate Committee on Selection and lodge her complaint. After some back-and-forth, she left my office,” Zam stated.
(NAN)
