Human rights lawyer Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa (SAN) has declared that it would amount to “illegality” for the Senate to prevent Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan from resuming her “duties” after the expiration of her “six months suspension.”
Adegboruwa’s statement was a response to a letter from the Acting Clerk of the Senate, which indicated that Akpoti-Uduaghan cannot return until her “court case was resolved.”
The senior advocate of Nigeria argued that the Senate would be “overstepping its authority” by maintaining its current stance.
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Adegboruwa stated that failing to allow the lawmaker’s resumption would “effectively prolongs her suspension” beyond the “six-month limit” without a valid Senate resolution.
He maintained that the lawmakers “cannot hide behind the case pending in court to illegally extend her suspension.”
He claimed, “The court case being referred to relates to the six months suspension, as to its validity and constitutionality. The appeal flowing from that case is also limited in scope to the six-month suspension. Anything to the contrary will portray the Senate as being vindictive and petty.
“The point was made by the trial court that the period of suspension should not exceed the usual sitting days of the Senate for a session. To refuse her resumption after six months will mean making the suspension indefinite.
“Since this matter relates to the rights and privileges of a whole constituency comprising millions of voters, the Senate should do the needful by allowing Senator Natasha to resume forthwith.
“She has already served the six months in full, and any determination by the court can only relate to the validity of the suspension and her entitlements, but certainly, the sessions of the Senate that she missed due to her suspension cannot be reversed forever.
“In essence, the purpose of the suspension having been fulfilled, no useful purpose will be served to deny her from resuming duties as a Senator,” Adegboruwa stated.
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