•Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan
Suspended Kogi Central Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan has announced that she will return to the Red Chamber tomorrow to resume her legislative duties.
On March 6, the Senate suspended Akpoti-Uduaghan for six months over alleged gross misconduct, reports The Nation.
The decision followed the adoption of the report by the Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Petitions after the Kogi Central senator’s altercation with Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
Akpoti-Uduaghan had filed a suit before the Abuja Federal High Court seeking to stop the suspension.
Delivering judgment on Friday, Justice Binta Nyako affirmed the power of the Senate to suspend erring members, including Akpoti-Uduaghan.
But the court faulted the duration of her suspension, describing it as “overreaching” and “excessive”.
The judge said the relevant laws of the Senate did not define the maximum duration for which a serving lawmaker can be suspended from office.
She held that since lawmakers are constitutionally required to sit for a total of 181 days in each legislative session, the six-month suspension imposed on Akpoti-Uduaghan effectively stripped her of the opportunity to carry out her legislative duties for nearly the entire session.
This, the judge noted, amounted to denying her constituents their right to representation.
She also ordered the senator to pay a N5 million fine for violating a court order by publishing a satirical apology to Akpabio on her Facebook page.
Akpoti-Uduaghan described the judgment as a victory.
