Court orders Senate to recall suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan

A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the immediate recall of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who was suspended by the Senate for six months in March 2024.

Delivering judgment on the matter on Thursday, Justice Binta Nyako held that the suspension slammed on the Kogi Central lawmaker was “excessive, unlawful and unconstitutional.” The judge ruled that while the Senate has the authority to discipline its members, such disciplinary actions must not infringe on the constitutional rights of constituents to be represented.

The court struck down provisions in Chapter 8 of the Senate Standing Orders and Section 14 of the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act, 2017, which the upper chamber had relied upon to impose the suspension. Justice Nyako held that both legislative instruments failed to provide a clear limit on the duration of suspensions, thereby opening the door for abuse.

“The six-month suspension amounts to sidelining the lawmaker from participating in virtually the entire legislative calendar,” the judge said, noting that the National Assembly is constitutionally required to sit for only 181 days in a year. She likened the punishment to depriving the entire Kogi Central constituency of representation for nearly a whole session.

The ruling comes after months of legal wrangling between Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan and the Senate leadership, following a dramatic floor clash during a March 2024 plenary. The senator had attempted to raise what she described as a point of order relating to allegations of budget padding, but was ruled out of order by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, who subsequently referred her to the Senate’s ethics committee. The committee, within days, recommended a six-month suspension, which the chamber adopted without debate.

Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan challenged the suspension in court, arguing that it violated her constitutional rights to fair hearing and political participation, and disenfranchised her constituents. The Senate, however, maintained that the issue was an internal legislative matter and beyond the purview of the judiciary.

But in her verdict, Justice Nyako dismissed that argument, stating that courts have jurisdiction when fundamental rights are at stake, regardless of legislative privilege.

“The Senate President was within his rights to maintain order during plenary, including declining to recognise a senator not sitting in her designated seat,” the judge ruled. “However, that does not justify the imposition of an open-ended and punitive suspension.”

In a twist, the court also found Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan in contempt of a previous order restraining all parties from making public comments on the case. She was fined an undisclosed sum and ordered to publish a public apology in two national dailies within seven days.

Thursday’s ruling marks a significant legal victory for Akpoti-Uduaghan, whose suspension had drawn criticism from civil society organisations and rights advocates who decried it as political overreach.

The Senate has not yet commented on whether it would comply with the judgment or appeal the ruling.