During the heated Senate session that resulted in the suspension of Senator Natasha Akpoti, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu advocated for fairness towards her aides, urging the Senate to reconsider a recommendation that would withhold their salaries and wages.
The Ethics and Public Petitions Committee had proposed that, along with Akpoti’s six-month suspension, all financial entitlements, including salaries and allowances, be halted—not just for her but also for her aides.
Senator Kalu opposed this move, arguing that the aides were not responsible for the alleged offence and should not suffer consequences meant for their principal.
“We cannot punish the aides of Senator Natasha for an offence they did not commit,” Kalu stated on the Senate floor. “They are staff of the National Assembly, and they have no other farm or means of livelihood apart from the salaries they earn from the Senate. As such, it will be wrong for us as a Senate to deny them and their families their salaries.”
The former Abia State governor, now a distinguished senator, passionately moved for an amendment to the recommendation, urging his colleagues to allow the affected staff to continue receiving their salaries despite their principal’s suspension.
While the Senate upheld the suspension of Senator Natasha, deliberations on Kalu’s plea gained attention, sparking discussions on the fairness of extending punitive measures to legislative aides who played no direct role in the senator’s alleged infractions.
The final decision on the proposed amendment remains pending, but Kalu’s intervention has drawn reactions from various quarters, with some commending his stance on protecting the welfare of National Assembly staff.
