Aisha Yesufu loudly endorsed Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s intention to return to the Senate on July 22, despite the upper chamber’s refusal to lift her suspension. Yesufu asserted she would accompany the embattled senator to the National Assembly:

“I think Senator Natasha has every right to resume office, and by tomorrow — she is not going to resume alone. There are people who are going to go with her, and I’ll be one of them… And if the Senate decides they are going to kill us, let them kill us.”

Yesufu condemned the Senate’s suspension of Natasha as both unconstitutional and emblematic of systemic discrimination against women in Nigerian politics:

“We are not even one-third. Out of 109 senators, we have only four women… you’re going after this particular lady who has done nothing other than discharge her duty … Enough of us being treated … as second-class citizens.”

She described the suspension as a deliberate affront to the rule of law:

“The court didn’t stop Natasha… The suspension by the Senate is unconstitutional. … The Senate is sending a message … it can act with impunity and disregard court rulings.”

Yesufu also criticised the judiciary for losing its independence:

“The judiciary … is now a pawn in the hands of corrupt politicians … it looks at the body language of those dictating what should be written.”