NASS announces new security measures, says senate corridor by Akpabio’s office off-limits to aides

The National Assembly  (NASS) has introduced new security restrictions around key sections of the Senate wing, including the chamber, the gangway, and the corridor leading to the Senate President’s office.

An internal memo dated October 2, issued by the Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms and signed by Brig-Gen Etido E. Ekpo (retd), directed that access to the long passage in front of Senate President Godswill Akpabio’s office, connecting from the White House lobby, will now be limited strictly to senators and members of the House of Representatives.

“All aides or personal assistants would not be allowed into the said corridor,” the memo stated.

Lawmakers were asked to communicate the new guidelines to their aides and personal staff.

The development comes just days after Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan of Kogi Central took aim at Akpabio, accusing him of running the legislature in a “dictatorship” style and treating her as if she were his “domestic staff.”

She made the remarks in Abuja while addressing journalists on her first day back to office, which had been locked for six months following her suspension by Senate leadership.

After security operatives and the Sergeant-at-Arms formally reopened her office in Room 205 of the Senate wing, Akpoti-Uduaghan described her experience as a test of her “resilience against injustice.”