10th Senate: Raging Issues of Power, Protest and Politics

From scandal to suspension, defections to fiscal battles, the Nigerian Senate in 2025 became a crucible of power, protest and procedure. Under relentless public scrutiny, the upper chamber navigated bruising controversies, high-stake confirmations and landmark legislation that tested its authority, cohesion and democratic credibility. Sunday Aborisade writes.

From January to December, 2025, the Nigerian Senate, under the gavel of Senate President Godswill Akpabio, has been anything but a quiet chamber. It has been a year defined by institutional drama, bruising personal conflicts, high-wire politics, shifting loyalties, and far-reaching legislative decisions that have shaped the trajectory of President Bola  Tinubu’s administration and Nigeria’s fragile democracy.

If the Senate is often described as the “upper chamber,” 2025 revealed it also as a pressure chamber, where egos clashed, tempers flared, rules were stretched, and the line between politics and governance was repeatedly tested.

At the centre of the storm stood a handful of defining moments: the Akpabio–Natasha confrontation and the unprecedented six-month suspension of a serving female senator; renewed allegations of budget padding; waves of defections that redrew party arithmetic; marathon screening exercises for presidential nominees; passage of consequential fiscal and economic bills; and public hearings that degenerated into verbal combat and political theatre.

Together, they formed a legislative season as dramatic as any in recent Senate history.

Natasha Affair: When Power Met Protest

The defining episode of the year erupted in February, when Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan (PDP, Kogi Central) accused the Senate leadership, implicitly Senate President Akpabio, of harassment, intimidation and deliberate attempts to silence her legislative voice.

What began as a disagreement over committee assignments and floor recognition rapidly escalated into a full-blown institutional crisis. Natasha’s public claims aired both on the Senate floor and through media engagements, sent shockwaves across the political establishment, triggering protests by civil society groups, women’s rights organisations and opposition lawmakers.

Senate leadership responded forcefully

Invoking provisions of the Senate Standing Orders, the Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions commenced disciplinary proceedings against the Kogi senator.

The hearings, held amid heavy security and public scrutiny, were tense and polarising. Natasha alleged a pre-determined outcome; the committee insisted it was enforcing discipline and protecting institutional integrity.

In March, the Senate voted to suspend Senator Natasha for six months, a decision that ignited nationwide outrage and reopened debates about gender representation, dissent, and the limits of legislative authority.

The suspension, one of the longest ever imposed on a senator, fractured public opinion. Supporters of the leadership framed it as necessary discipline while critics condemned it as executive overreach within the legislature. For weeks, the Senate sat under the shadow of protests, court actions and international attention, making the Natasha affair a symbol of the year’s larger tensions over power and accountability.

Ningi Budget Padding Allegations Resurface

Barely had the dust settled when another controversy resurfaced, which is budget padding.

Senator Abdul Ningi (PDP, Bauchi Central) reignited national debate in April when he alleged that trillions of naira were irregularly inserted into the 2025 Appropriation Act without proper legislative approval.

The allegation struck at the heart of the Senate’s credibility. Ningi claimed that what was passed on the floor differed substantially from what was gazetted, echoing past scandals that had haunted previous assemblies.

The Senate leadership swiftly denied the claims, accusing Ningi of misinformation and grandstanding. A closed-door session followed, after which the Senate threatened disciplinary action. Though the matter did not culminate in formal sanctions, it left lingering questions about transparency in the budgeting process and reinforced public scepticism about legislative oversight.

Defections and Politics of Numbers

2025 also witnessed a steady stream of defections, largely favouring the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Senators citing “irreconcilable differences,” internal party crises and alignment with the centre crossed over from the PDP, Labour Party and NNPP. Each defection altered the Senate’s political arithmetic, strengthening the APC’s dominance and weakening opposition leverage.

While leadership framed the defections as endorsements of President Tinubu’s reform agenda, critics described them as opportunistic and transactional, driven more by survival instincts than ideology.

The Senate chamber became a stage for dramatic announcements, applause from the majority benches, and muted protests from dwindling opposition ranks.

Tinubu’s Nominees and Senate’s Gatekeeping Role

One area where the Senate asserted itself with procedural seriousness was in the screening and confirmation of presidential nominees.

Throughout the year, the chamber screened and confirmed ministers, ambassadors, service chiefs, heads of agencies and members of regulatory bodies critical to Tinubu’s economic and security agenda.

Some sessions were routine; others were bruising.

Nominees faced probing questions over past records, asset declarations, regional balance and competence. On several occasions, controversial nominees survived scrutiny amid murmurs of “take a bow,” reinforcing perennial criticism that legislative oversight often yields to political expediency.

Still, the Senate rejected or delayed a few nominations, underscoring its constitutional gatekeeping role, even if selectively exercised.

Fiscal Bills, Reforms and Economic Gamble

Against the backdrop of a struggling economy, the Senate approved a raft of fiscal and economic bills that defined the Tinubu administration’s reform push.

These included amendments to tax laws, borrowing requests, supplementary budgets, and executive bills aimed at stabilising revenue, attracting investment and funding infrastructure.

Debates were often intense, with lawmakers divided over debt sustainability, fuel subsidy fallout, and the social cost of reforms. Public hearings on tax and revenue bills drew fierce opposition from labour unions, private sector groups and civil society, many of whom accused the Senate of prioritising revenue over welfare.

Yet, in most cases, the bills passed, sometimes with minor amendments, reflecting a Senate largely aligned with the executive’s economic direction.

Public Hearings Turn Combative

Several public hearings during the year descended into controversy.

At hearings on tax reforms, constitutional amendments and electoral matters, stakeholders clashed openly with lawmakers. Accusations of bias, selective invitations and predetermined outcomes were common.

On at least two occasions, hearings were almost suspended amid shouting matches. These moments reinforced perceptions of a legislature struggling to balance consultation with control.

Motions, Points of Order and Theatre

Beyond the major scandals, the Senate floor remained animated by dramatic motions and procedural manoeuvres.

Points of order were raised to halt debates, delay votes or draw attention to crises, from insecurity and inflation to diplomatic tensions. Some motions sparked national conversations; others fizzled out after spirited debate.

Senate President Akpabio’s firm, and sometimes controversial, handling of proceedings became a defining feature, earning praise from supporters and criticism from opponents who accused him of intolerance.

An Institution Under the Spotlight

In 2025, the Nigerian Senate stood as an institution under intense public scrutiny.

It passed laws, confirmed nominees and supported executive reforms. But it has also courted controversy, tested democratic norms and exposed the fault lines of power, gender, accountability and transparency.

The Akpabio–Natasha saga, the budget padding claims, the defections, and the bruising public hearings collectively ensured that the Senate never drifted from the national spotlight.

In a democracy still negotiating its balance, the events of the year served as a reminder that lawmaking is not merely about statutes and votes, but about people, power, and the fragile trust between institutions and the citizens they serve.

For better or worse, the 10th Senate made 2025 a year Nigerians will not forget so soon.