Natasha: Between the Nzeribe and Ndume options

By Andrew Agbese

Luckily for Senator Natasha Akpoti Uduaghan, she may not need to scratch her head too deeply to find a solution to her predicament as she has other precedents to learn from.
It is on record that the first senator to be suspended by his colleagues in the current dispensation was the irrepressible Senator JKN Waku from Benue state.
Being the first, he had the misfortune of not knowing what to do as he had no immediate experience to learn from.
Not long after that, the Senate also suspended Senator Arthur Nzeribe, the maverick. Not one to be taken unaware, Nzeribe took it in his stride.
He was walking into the Red Chamber when the announcement was made so he simply paused and studied the situation. On impulse, he simply turned and walked out of the chamber when then president of Senate, Anyim Pius Anyim wanted to embarrass him.
This happened in November 2002 on the verge of primaries for the 2003 general elections.
Nzeribe while reacting, assured newsmen that he will outlive those that took the action against him.
He took the matter to court and won.
Shortly after that, they all went for primaries and Nzeribe got his ticket to run for another term back while Anyim and the others could not.
To be fair to Anyim, he did not even make an attempt as he knew there was no way he could meander through the wedges placed by Obasanjo and his state governor, Sam Egwu.
Nzeribe, on return to the senate told newsmen in mockery of those behind his suspension that ‘water don pass gari!’
Again, when it happened to Senator Ali Ndume, he decided on a similar course and challenged the suspension in court. The court set aside the suspension saying it was unlawful of the Red Chamber to have taken the action against Nduma.
Natasha, who today has been placed in the same boat, has described her suspension as an ‘injustice that cannot stand.’
Though she has earned the unenviable record of being the first female senator to be suspended, she may not lose hope as she has so much experiences to learn from. She can either adopt the double barrell Nzeribe option or the single barrel of Ndume. No be every thing dem dey tell person.