Court Rules Senate Must Recall Natasha; Senate President Empowered to Allocate Seats

Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan

A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, presided over by Justice Binta Nyako on Friday, ruled that the Nigerian Senate acted beyond its powers by suspending Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan for six months.

The court ordered the Senate to immediately recall her to the Red Chamber.

Delivering the judgment, Justice Binta Nyako described the duration of the suspension as “excessive” and lacking 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 specify a maximum suspension period. As such, they were deemed overreaching in this case.

She noted that since the National Assembly is only required to sit for 181 days in a legislative year, suspending a lawmaker for roughly the same length of time effectively silences the voice of an entire constituency a move the judge 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,” Justice 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 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 that Akpabio was right not to have allowed her to speak because she was not in her seat. She also said the Senate President has the right to allocate seats to senators in accordance with the rules governing the House.

The court directed Akpoti-Uduaghan to apologize to the House.

Justice 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 N5 million on Akpoti-Uduaghan for breaching a prior court directive that barred both parties from making public statements about the ongoing legal matter. The fine is to be paid into the coffers of the federal government.