{"id":8691,"date":"2026-02-15T08:48:32","date_gmt":"2026-02-15T08:48:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shakamomodu.com\/?p=8691"},"modified":"2026-02-15T08:48:32","modified_gmt":"2026-02-15T08:48:32","slug":"national-assembly-clash-natasha-akpoti-uduaghan-walks-out-of-steel-ministry-budget-session","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shakamomodu.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/15\/national-assembly-clash-natasha-akpoti-uduaghan-walks-out-of-steel-ministry-budget-session\/","title":{"rendered":"National Assembly Clash: Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan Walks Out of Steel Ministry Budget Session"},"content":{"rendered":"

A dramatic National Assembly clash<\/strong> unfolded on Wednesday as Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan confronted Patrick Ndubueze during the Ministry of Steel Development\u2019s budget defence session.<\/p>\n

Tempers flared after nearly four hours of deliberations when Ndubueze, who chairs the Senate committee overseeing the ministry, moved to adjourn proceedings. Akpoti-Uduaghan objected, insisting she still had critical issues to raise.<\/p>\n

The heated exchange ended with the Kogi Central lawmaker walking out of the hearing room.<\/p>\n

\n

National Assembly Clash Over Adjournment<\/h2>\n

The confrontation began when Ndubueze struck the gavel to conclude the session, stating the senator had spoken extensively.<\/p>\n

Akpoti-Uduaghan protested, urging the chairman not to interrupt her and to allow further engagement with the minister.<\/p>\n

When her appeal was overruled, she accused the committee leadership of disrespect and questioned the decision to curtail what she described as an interactive session.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an interactive session\u2026 we have not met with the minister enough,\u201d she said before exiting the chamber.<\/p>\n

\n

Ajaokuta Steel Company at the Centre of Dispute<\/h2>\n

Beyond procedure, the National Assembly clash<\/strong> reflected deeper concerns over the future of Ajaokuta Steel Company.<\/p>\n

Earlier in the hearing, Akpoti-Uduaghan pressed the ministry for clarity on memoranda of understanding (MoUs) signed with private partners.<\/p>\n

She said she had requested a copy of the MoU to verify due diligence but was not furnished with the document, forcing her to rely on third-party information.<\/p>\n

The senator questioned the financing and technical structure of the agreements, asking the ministry to explain how responsibilities were allocated among partners.<\/p>\n

She also criticised what she described as limited engagement with her as representative of the host community, noting that meetings with the minister had been infrequent.<\/p>\n

\n

Minister Outlines Budget Performance<\/h2>\n

In his presentation, Minister of Steel Development Shuaibu Audu detailed the ministry\u2019s 2024 financial performance.<\/p>\n

He said the ministry and its agencies received N24.143 billion<\/strong> in the 2024 appropriation, broken down as:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • N9.5 billion for personnel<\/li>\n
  • N383 million for overhead<\/li>\n
  • N11.06 billion for capital expenditure<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    As of December 31, 2025, total releases stood at 56.5 percent<\/strong>. Personnel and overhead allocations were fully released, while capital releases reached 48.4 percent.<\/p>\n

    Capital disbursements for the 2025 budget, he added, had yet to begin.<\/p>\n

    Responding to concerns over the MoU, the minister maintained that details had been submitted to the legislature and advised the senator to follow established parliamentary procedures for further engagement.<\/p>\n

    \n

    Broader Implications of the National Assembly Clash<\/h2>\n

    The National Assembly clash<\/strong> underscores growing tensions over oversight, industrial policy, legislative authority, host community rights, infrastructure revival, transparency demands, budget scrutiny, executive accountability, committee dynamics, governance standards, public sector reforms, stakeholder engagement, fiscal oversight, parliamentary decorum, project financing, economic diversification, policy coordination, institutional trust.<\/p>\n

    At its core, the dispute highlights persistent questions about the revival of Ajaokuta and the pace of Nigeria\u2019s steel sector reforms.<\/p>\n

    As debates intensify over funding, partnership models, and oversight mechanisms, the National Assembly clash signals that scrutiny of the Steel Ministry\u2019s agenda will remain firmly in focus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    National Assembly clash erupts as Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan walks out during Steel Ministry budget defence over Ajaokuta concerns.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":8694,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[35,36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-politics"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shakamomodu.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8691"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shakamomodu.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shakamomodu.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shakamomodu.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shakamomodu.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8691"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/shakamomodu.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8691\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8695,"href":"https:\/\/shakamomodu.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8691\/revisions\/8695"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shakamomodu.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shakamomodu.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shakamomodu.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shakamomodu.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}