Ime Akpan
The suspended senator representative of Kogi Central, Mrs Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan yesterday locked horns with security agents in a battle of wills while she attempted to gain access to the senate building to resume legislative duties.
Recall that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senator was suspended by the senate in March for six months for alleged breach of its Standing Orders on seat allocation, specifically Order 6.
The senator challenged her suspension at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
On July 4, Justice Binta Nyako nullified the suspension and ordered the senate to recall her.
However, the court fined Akpoti-Uduaghan N5 million for contempt and directed her to publish an apology in two national dailies and on her Facebook page.
As of yesterday, she was yet to meet the conditions while the senate leadership appealed the ruling.
Both parties have since interpreted the judgment differently, with each claiming it favoured them.
Insisting that the judgment ordered her reinstatement, Akpoti-Uduaghan, accompanied by a horde of supporters including an activist, Mrs Aisha Yesufu, went to the national assembly but was stopped by the security men after she had successfully waded through the first line of security personnel.
The security agents said they acted on the instruction of a higher authority to deny her access to the legislative chamber.
Addressing journalists thereafter, Akpoti-Uduaghan expressed deep frustration with the senate leadership, especially given the court’s judgement which she said was in her favour.
She said she had duly notified the senate through two letters that “I would be resuming functions today (Yesterday), July 22, 2025.”
She said she was shocked by the large number of armed policemen “we met outside, all well-kitted with guns, charging at an unarmed female senator.”
She also said the senate, under its leadership, decided to become lawbreakers by “denying my entrance into the chambers to resume my duties.”
The embattled lawmaker also spoke on the attempt to misinterpret the court’s ruling in the media.
“There have been some conversations in the media by their own team trying to twist a narrative that the judge did not order my reinstatement, and I’d like to clarify that.
“If you look at Section 318 of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution, it’s very clear that decisions of a court come in five ways: a judicial decree, a sentence, an order, a conviction, and a recommendation.”
“Mine tilted towards a recommendation, which some interpret as voluntary, meaning the Senate has the right to comply or not.
“But I’d like to clarify that again.
“If you go further to Section 287, Subsection 3 of the 1999 Constitution, it clearly specifies that decisions, any of these five decisions of any court, are binding on every authority.
“So, what that means in simple terms: whether Justice Binta Nyako or the Federal High Court made an order, a sentence, a judicial decree, or a recommendation, however they want to interpret the literal words, it is still a decision of a court, and it is still binding on the national assembly,” she said.
Akpoti-Uduaghan also debunked media reports that the senate had appealed the judgment, Akpoti-Uduaghan.
Waving a document, she said the national assembly as a body of lawmakers had yet to appeal the judgement.
“This is the appeal last week against Justice Binta Nyako’s judgment.
“It is clear that it is not the national assembly, neither is it the senate. It is Senator Akpabio himself.
“The national assembly has not appealed that judgment. The senate has not appealed the judgment.
“The committee on ethics, which wrongly suspended me, has not appealed the judgment.
“As a matter of fact, Senator Akpabio joined the clerk of the national assembly, the entire senate, and the chairman committee on ethics as joint respondents to the case.
“That means Akpabio has taken the national assembly, the senate, the clerk, and the committee to court as well.
“That must be clarified; so there is no reason whatsoever, contrary to the publications I read that I should not resume today (yesterday because the senate has appealed,” she added.
