Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan from Kogi Central has been taken off her role as Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Diaspora and Non-Governmental Organisations.

The announcement was made by Senate President Godswill Akpabio during the Senate’s meeting on Thursday, July 10. He said that Senator Aniekan Bassey, who represents Akwa Ibom North-East and is a member of the APC, would now take over the role.

“The new chairman is Distinguished Senator Aniekan Bassey, and it will take effect from today,” Akpabio announced on the Senate floor.

This is not the first time Senator Natasha is being removed from a committee position. Earlier in February, she was taken off her role as Chair of the Senate Committee on Local Content. After that, she was given the Diaspora and NGOs Committee to lead—but has now lost that one too.

Senate President Akpabio also mentioned that other changes may happen in Senate committees, especially for vice chair positions. He said the aim is to give Senators fairer chances in leadership roles.

“We will make some changes to our vice chairmanship positions next week. Some of the Senators have two vice chairmanship positions. Every Senator should either be a chairman or a vice chairman, so we balance the situation.”

Natasha’s removal comes a few months after she was suspended in March. That happened because of a disagreement she had with the Senate President during one of their meetings. The Senate had accused her of serious misconduct at that time.