Court orders Senate to recall suspended Natasha, fines her N5m for contempt

A Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday ruled that the Nigerian Senate acted beyond its powers by suspending Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan for six months, ordering her immediate recall to the Red Chamber.

Justice Binta Nyako, who delivered the judgment, described the duration of the suspension as “excessive” and without a clear legal foundation.

According to the court, both Chapter 8 of the Senate Standing Orders and Section 14 of the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act, which the upper chamber relied upon, do not stipulate a maximum suspension period. As such, they were deemed overreaching in this case.

The judge pointed out that since the National Assembly is only required to sit for 181 days in a legislative year, suspending a lawmaker for roughly that same length of time effectively silences the voice of an entire constituency—a move she described as unconstitutional.

“While the Senate has the authority to discipline its members, such sanctions must not go so far as to deny constituents their right to representation,” Nyako ruled.

However, the court sided with Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, on a separate issue, stating that his refusal to allow Akpoti-Uduaghan to speak during a plenary—on the grounds that she was not seated in her designated chair—did not amount to a violation of her rights.

The judge held the Akpabio was right not to have allowed her to speak because she was not on her seat. She also said the senate President has the right to allot seats to senators in accordance with the rules guiding the House.

The court directed her to apologise to the House

Nyako also dismissed Akpabio’s argument that the judiciary had no business interfering in what he called an “internal affair” of the legislature, stating that fundamental rights and representation are matters squarely within the court’s purview.

In a twist, the court imposed a penalty of N5million on Akpoti-Uduaghan for breaching a prior court directive that barred both parties from making public statements about the ongoing legal matter.

The money is to paid into the coffers of the federal government.