The Federal High Court in Abuja, presided over by Justice Binta Nyako, has ordered the Senate to immediately recall the suspended Kogi Central Senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.
In her judgment delivered on Friday, Justice Nyako deemed the six-month suspension imposed on the lawmaker by the Senate as excessive.
She specifically faulted Chapter 8 of the Senate Standing Rules and Section 14 of the Legislative Houses, Powers & Privileges Act, declaring both provisions as “overreaching” for not specifying a maximum period for a lawmaker’s suspension.
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The court emphasized that a six-month suspension is equivalent to nearly all of the 181 sitting days in a legislative cycle, effectively disenfranchising Akpoti-Uduaghan’s constituents.
Justice Nyako clarified that while the Senate possesses the power to sanction erring members, such punishments must not be so severe as to deprive constituents of their right to representation.
However, the court also ruled that Senate President Godswill Akpabio was justified in denying Senator Natasha the opportunity to speak during plenary because she was not in her officially allotted seat. For this, the court directed her to apologize to the Senate.
Furthermore, Justice Nyako dismissed Akpabio’s argument that the court lacked jurisdiction over the matter, which he claimed was an internal affair of the Senate.
Earlier in the same ruling, the court had imposed a ₦5 million fine on Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan for contempt, finding her guilty of breaching a previous court order that prohibited parties from making public statements about the suit.
She was also ordered to publish an apology in two national newspapers within seven days for this contemptuous act.
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