posted 14th March 2025
Double Scandal Rocks Nigeria’s Executive and Legislature
LAGOS, 14 March 2025 – Nigeria has been hit by a double scandal within the past 24 hours, shaking both its executive and legislative branches and raising serious questions about transparency and integrity in the country’s governance. The controversies involve allegations of corruption in President Bola Tinubu’s administration and a deceptive move surrounding the suspension of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.
In the first bombshell, Nasir el-Rufai, the former governor of Kaduna State, claimed in an interview with BBC Hausa that some individuals paid their way into ministerial positions under President Tinubu’s government. El-Rufai, a prominent figure in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), alleged that Tinubu had personally pleaded with him to join the cabinet to tackle Nigeria’s chronic electricity crisis. However, he suggested that his exclusion from the administration stemmed from the president’s change of heart, hinting at behind-the-scenes dealings. “I was begged to serve, but it seems others secured their places with money,” el-Rufai stated, reigniting debates about the integrity of political appointments in the Tinubu administration.
El-Rufai’s remarks have sparked outrage and calls for an investigation into how ministerial roles are assigned. Critics argue that if true, this revelation exposes a deep-rooted culture of corruption within the executive, while supporters of Tinubu dismiss the claims as sour grapes from a man who was overlooked for a cabinet post.
Meanwhile, a second scandal has erupted in the legislature, casting a shadow over the recent suspension of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan. The Kogi Central senator was barred from the Senate for six months following allegations of misconduct, a decision purportedly backed by the Senate Ethics Committee. However, it has now emerged that the signatures presented as evidence of senators endorsing her suspension were misleading. Contrary to initial reports, these were merely the signatures of senators who attended an Ethics Committee meeting where the suspension was discussed—not those who explicitly approved it. This revelation suggests the public was deliberately deceived into believing there was broader support for Akpoti-Uduaghan’s punishment than actually existed.
Adding fuel to the fire, it has come to light that the Chairman of the Senate Ethics Committee, responsible for overseeing the suspension process, was disbarred from practising law in New York in 2010. This detail has intensified scrutiny of the committee’s credibility, with many questioning how an individual with such a history could hold a position of moral authority in Nigeria’s upper chamber.
The twin scandals have triggered a wave of condemnation across Nigeria, with activists and opposition figures demanding accountability. Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan, one of only four women in the 109-seat Senate, has framed her suspension as an attack on dissent, further alleging sexual harassment by Senate President Godswill Akpabio—a claim he has denied. Her case has galvanised women’s rights advocates, who see the murky circumstances of her suspension as emblematic of systemic bias.
As of early Friday morning, neither the presidency nor the Senate leadership had issued an official response to the unfolding crises. However, with public trust in Nigeria’s institutions already fragile, these revelations threaten to deepen cynicism and fuel calls for reform. The coming days will likely see intense pressure on both President Tinubu and the Senate to address these allegations head-on—or risk further eroding their legitimacy.
