Former Minister of Education and public policy advocate, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, has criticized the Senate over what she described as the “unconstitutional extension of the six-month suspension period” of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.
In a statement titled “A Memo to the Nigerian Senate, Judiciary and Fellow Citizens,” Ezekwesili condemned the Senate’s decision to extend the lawmaker’s suspension indefinitely.
She noted that the Senate’s move came despite a Federal High Court ruling that declared the initial six-month punishment “excessive” and unconstitutional.
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She recalled that Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan was suspended on “March 6, 2025,” after accusing Senate President Godswill Akpabio of “sexual harassment.”
Ezekwesili argued that instead of investigating the allegation, the Senate turned against the lawmaker, a move she described as “an unprecedented assault on constitutional principles, judicial authority, and the very foundations of our democratic institutions.”
Following a September 4, 2025, letter from the Acting Clerk of the National Assembly informing Akpoti-Uduaghan that her suspension remained in place, Ezekwesili called the letter a “constitutional crisis.”
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She added, “The Senate justifies this illegality with the preposterous claim that the matter remains sub judice. That reasoning is fundamentally flawed. They cannot use pending litigation as justification to prolong an unconstitutional suspension.”
Ezekwesili pointed out that the Federal High Court, presided over by Justice Binta Nyako, had already ruled that the suspension was “excessive” and violated the Constitution.
She stressed that excluding a lawmaker from the Senate for six months—when the National Assembly sits for only “181 days in a year”—effectively “disenfranchises her constituents.”
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Corroborating the court ruling, she also argued that the Senate’s action violates its own internal rules, which allow for suspensions of “no more than 14 days under Order 67(4).”
She reminded Nigerians that past court rulings in 2017 and 2018 had already declared long-term suspensions unconstitutional.
Ezekwesili noted, “The numbers tell a stark story. 181 sitting days in a year. Six months and counting of suspension. That means Kogi Central constituents have been denied over 100% of their right to representation.”
She warned that “judicial inconsistencies” have emboldened the legislature to disregard the law.
Ezekwesili called on the Chief Justice of Nigeria and the National Judicial Council (NJC) to act swiftly, stressing that the credibility of the judiciary is on the line.
She added, “The fastest conclusion of the Akpoti-Uduaghan case is imperative for the courts to prove to Nigerians that they are not complicit in undermining the rule of law.”
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