A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Nigerian Senate to immediately recall Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who represents Kogi Central Senatorial District, after declaring her six-month suspension unconstitutional and excessive.
Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan was suspended in March following allegations of “gross misconduct” by the Senate leadership. Her suspension came shortly after a public disagreement with Senate President Godswill Akpabio over changes in the seating arrangement in the chamber during a plenary session.
The senator subsequently accused Akpabio of inappropriate behaviour, including alleged sexual advances, and took her case to the United Nations.
Delivering judgment on Friday, Justice Binta Nyako ruled that the Senate’s action was a violation of Akpoti-Uduaghan’s rights and an affront to the principles of representative democracy.
The court held that the six-month suspension was not only excessive but also lacked clear legal backing under the Senate’s own standing rules and the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act.
Justice Nyako pointed out that the relevant provisions [Chapter 8 of the Senate Standing Orders and Section 14 of the Legislative Houses Powers & Privileges Act] do not specify any maximum duration for suspending a lawmaker.
She warned that such ambiguity could be abused to suppress dissenting voices in the legislature.
Highlighting the implications of the suspension, the court emphasized that lawmakers are constitutionally required to sit for 181 days per legislative year. Suspending a senator for nearly that entire duration, the judge said, amounts to denying the people of Kogi Central their constitutional right to representation.
“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, ordering the Senate to reverse the suspension and reinstate Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan without delay.
