Former adult film actress Deyci Alejandra Omaña Ortiz, popularly known by her stage name Amaranta Hank, has made history after being sworn in as a senator in Colombia, becoming one of the country’s most talked-about political figures.

Ortiz secured the Senate seat following her victory in Colombia’s March elections on the platform of the left-wing Historic Pact coalition, where she campaigned for greater rights and legal protections for workers in the adult entertainment industry.

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According to Colombian newspaper El Tiempo, the newly inaugurated lawmaker will represent the Norte de Santander region during the 2026–2030 parliamentary term after placing 23rd on the coalition’s closed electoral list.

The Historic Pact emerged as the country’s strongest political force in the election, winning 22.72 per cent of the Senate vote—more than 4.4 million ballots—to secure 25 seats, according to Colombia’s National Registry.

Before entering politics, Ortiz worked as a journalist before transitioning into the adult film industry. She has maintained that her previous career should not define her ability to serve in public office.

Responding to critics who questioned her suitability for office, Ortiz defended her candidacy in a TikTok video, saying:
“¿Por qué una mujer que estuvo en la industria para adultos no puede aspirar a un cargo de elección popular?”

The statement translates to: “Why can’t a woman who was in the adult industry aspire to a popularly elected office?”

According to Infobae Colombia, Ortiz believes women who have worked in the sexual economy make meaningful contributions to the country’s economy and deserve legal recognition instead of continued stigma.

Born in the city of Cúcuta, the senator said her legislative agenda will also focus on mental health, sexual abuse prevention, and broader social welfare reforms.

Her political rise follows months of public debate after she and fellow former adult film performer Juan Carlos Florián were appointed to positions in President Gustavo Petro’s Ministry of Equality, a move that sparked widespread discussion in Colombia.

Ortiz’s swearing-in marks one of the most closely watched moments in Colombian politics in recent years, with supporters describing it as a victory for inclusion and equal opportunity, while critics continue to question her unconventional path to public office.

A South African court has ordered a temporary halt to impeachment proceedings against President Cyril Ramaphosa over the controversial $580,000 Phala Phala farm cash scandal, pending the outcome of his legal challenge against an earlier investigative report.

The Western Cape High Court ruled on Friday in favour of Ramaphosa, granting his request to suspend the parliamentary impeachment process while the court reviews a November 2022 independent panel report that concluded the president “may have committed” serious violations and misconduct.

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In his ruling, Judge Andre le Grange ordered that Parliament’s impeachment committee must not proceed with public hearings until the judicial review has been concluded.

“Pending the determination by this court of the applicant’s review… respondents are interdicted from proceeding with a public impeachment hearing,” the judge ruled.

The controversy dates back to a 2020 burglary at Ramaphosa’s luxury Phala Phala game farm in Limpopo Province, where thieves allegedly stole $580,000 hidden inside a sofa.

Ramaphosa has consistently denied any wrongdoing, maintaining that he reported the break-in to the police and that the money was the legitimate proceeds from the sale of 20 buffaloes.

The complaint was filed by a former South African intelligence chief and one-time ally of former President Jacob Zuma.

The complainant alleged that Ramaphosa concealed the robbery from both police and tax authorities and claimed the amount involved was as much as $4 million.

Despite mounting pressure from opposition parties demanding accountability, Ramaphosa has repeatedly ruled out resigning over the scandal.

Reacting to Friday’s ruling, the South African president reaffirmed his commitment to the country’s constitutional principles and judicial system.

“The President will continue to cooperate with and abide by processes of accountability,” a statement from his office said, adding that he remains committed to respecting the independence of the judiciary and the separation of powers.

The impeachment process had initially been rejected by South Africa’s National Assembly, where Ramaphosa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) held a parliamentary majority, effectively blocking impeachment proceedings at the time.

Although prosecutors dropped related charges in 2024, the Constitutional Court overturned Parliament’s earlier decision in May 2026, paving the way for the establishment of a parliamentary impeachment committee.

If the impeachment proceedings eventually resume, Ramaphosa would become the first sitting South African president to face such a process.

The High Court is expected to hear his application seeking to overturn the 2022 independent panel report in September.

The N17.5 trillion debt owed the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) by the Nigerian government is a disguised fuel subsidy.

Chairman of Alliance for Economic Research and Ethics Ltd/GTE, Dele Oye, made the allegation in a statement, adding that Nigeria was currently operating the most expensive subsidy programme in its history, despite the government’s claimed removal of fuel subsidy.

The erstwhile President of Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), added that the huge liability, accumulated through what NNPC described as “energy security expenses,” “under-recovery” and other receivables, represented a continuation of the subsidy regime under a different name.

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Oye, who is also the immediate past President of Organised Private Sector of Nigeria (OPSN), averred that the government’s 2023 announcement of fuel subsidy removal did not eliminate the financial burden but merely transformed it into an accounting arrangement that had placed additional pressure on public finances.

He said, “Nigeria is currently executing the most expensive subsidy programme in its history, yet almost no one is calling it by its true name.

“A N17.5 trillion liability has been accumulated in the shadows, hidden behind accounting terminologies designed to obscure rather than illuminate.

“This is not energy security; it is fiscal capture, the systematic transfer of public wealth through mechanisms that evade democratic oversight. The Petroleum Industry Act was designed to dismantle such opaque structures, not to be weaponised to legitimise them.

“Three years after the declaration that ‘subsidy is gone’, the burden has never been heavier. It has merely been rebranded. And that, tragically, is the most expensive word game in Nigerian history.”

He noted that the NNPC Ltd’s 2024 financial statements showed that the federation’s obligations to the company had risen to about N17.5 trillion, comprising energy security expenses, under-recovery claims, and other receivables.

Oye asserted that the development raised concerns over transparency, accountability, and the sustainability of Nigeria’s petroleum policy.

He stated, “On May 29, 2023, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu stood before the nation and declared, with theatrical finality: ‘Subsidy is gone.’ It was a bold proclamation, one that signalled a definitive break from decades of fiscal haemorrhage.

“Yet, three years later, as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) released its 2024 Consolidated and Separate Financial Statements, the numbers revealed a profoundly different reality.

“The subsidy did not vanish; it metamorphosed. Today, the federation owes NNPC a staggering N17.5 trillion, an exposure nearly double the N9.36 trillion recorded in 2023. The anatomy of this colossal liability is as stark as it is revealing: N7.13 trillion categorised as ‘Energy Security Expense’, N8.67 trillion labelled as ‘under-recovery” and N8.84 trillion grouped under ‘Other Receivables from the Federation’.

“NNPC’s auditors, PwC, SIAO, and Muhtari Dangana & Co., have certified these figures. The company proudly posted a record N5.4 trillion profit after tax in 2024, a 64 per cent surge from the previous year. Yet, this ‘profit’ was declared even as the company simultaneously booked nearly N18 trillion in debts owed by the very federation to which it is mandated to remit dividends.”

According to Oye, “NNPC insists this is not a subsidy. They call it ‘energy security.’ But as the late economist, Thomas Sowell, astutely observed: ‘It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong.’

“In Nigeria’s case, the price is being paid by 220 million citizens, while the decision-makers engage in a deeply expensive exercise in linguistic gymnastics.”

He said the current arrangement had created a situation where government revenue was reduced through deductions from NNPC remittances while Nigerians continued to experience high petrol prices.

The alliance chairman further questioned the continued accumulation of the liability despite the passage of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, which was designed to promote transparency and commercial efficiency in the petroleum sector.

Oye also criticised the continued reliance on petrol imports, despite the commissioning of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals (DPRP), describing it as a contradiction in Nigeria’s quest for energy independence.

He stated, “The narrative becomes truly surreal when we consider the Dangote Petroleum Refinery. Commissioned to end Nigeria’s decades-long dependence on imported fuel and save precious foreign exchange, Africa’s largest refinery (with a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day) should have rendered the ‘energy security expense’ entirely obsolete.

“Instead, Nigeria finds itself embroiled in a crisis over whether the Dangote Refinery should even be permitted to supply the domestic market effectively.”

He called for a comprehensive forensic audit of all energy security expenses and related claims, stating that Nigerians deserve clarity on the financial obligations being accumulated in their name.