•Senator Natasha Akpoti-Udauaghan
There is palpable fear that the Senate leadership may clash with the suspended lawmaker representing Kogi Central Senatorial District, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, following her threat to attend the plenary today.
The upper chamber is, however, bracing for a showdown and insisted that it would not take any official action on the matter until the review of the Certified True Copy of the court’s pronouncement, reports The PUNCH.
Akpoti-Uduaghan had told her jubilant supporters in a video trending on social media that she would resume her legislative activities in the Red Chamber today.
The senator also expressed gratitude to her constituents for standing by her, following the favourable court judgment that reaffirmed her position in the Senate.
She said, “I thank you for your support. I am glad we are victorious today. We shall resume in the Senate on Tuesday by the grace of God.”
A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja had, on Friday, nullified the six-month suspension slammed on Akpoti-Uduaghan by the Senate.
The court declared that the six-month suspension imposed on her was excessive, unconstitutional, and an infringement on the rights of her constituents and ordered that she be recalled from suspension.
It also fined her the sum of N5m for contempt of court over a Facebook post deemed to have violated an earlier court order.
Justice Binta Nyako, in a ruling which spanned multiple legal issues, held that Akpoti-Uduaghan’s Facebook post, a satirical apology directed at Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, breached an interim injunction issued by the court on March 4, 2025.
That injunction had barred all parties from making public statements or social media posts related to the ongoing suit she filed to challenge her suspension.
But barely 24 hours after her threat to resume plenary, the upper legislative chamber said it would withhold any official action on the matter until it obtained and reviewed the CTC of the court’s pronouncement.
In a statement issued on Sunday, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Yemi Adaramodu, said while its legal representatives were present in court, the full judgment was not read in open court.
Adaramodu added that they had filed a formal application to obtain the CTC for a clear understanding of the ruling and any specific orders made by the court.
The statement partly read, “Pending receipt and examination of the CTC, and acting on the advice of counsel, the Senate shall refrain from taking any steps that may prejudice its legal position.”
Akpoti-Uduaghan was suspended for six months by the Senate in March after a rowdy plenary during which she accused Akpabio of sexual harassment.
The suspension had sparked outrage among various civil society groups and human rights organisations.
Akpoti-Uduaghan subsequently sued the Senate and its leadership, arguing that the action was a calculated attempt to silence her and disenfranchise her constituents.
In response to a satirical Facebook post dated April 27 – in which she offered what the court described as a “mock apology” to Akpabio, lawyers representing the Senate President filed a contempt application against her.
The lawyers claimed that the post was in defiance of the court’s gag order.
During proceedings, Akpoti-Uduaghan’s legal team contended that the post was unrelated to the suspension case, insisting it concerned her allegations of misconduct against the Senate President.
Justice Nyako, however, disagreed, stating that the post was clearly linked to the matter before the court and, therefore, constituted a deliberate breach of the court’s directive.
The judge, having imposed a N5m fine on the senator, ordered her to issue a public apology within seven days.
The apology, she ruled, must be published in two national dailies and reposted on her Facebook page.
As of yesterday evening, Akpoti-Uduaghan was yet to publish the apology in two national dailies and on her Facebook page.
