By: Thedailytorchmedia.
Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court, Abuja, has ordered the Senate to reinstate the suspended Senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.
Delivering judgment, Justice Binta Nyako described the six-month suspension handed to Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan as disproportionate and unjustified.
The judge ruled that Chapter 8 of the Senate Standing Rules and Section 14 of the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act were overreaching.
However, the court held that Senate President Godswill Akpabio was justified in denying Senator Natasha the opportunity to speak during plenary, as she was not seated in her designated spot. The court also directed her to tender an apology to the Senate.
Justice Nyako added that the two pieces of legislation failed to specify the maximum period that a serving lawmaker could be suspended from office.
According to the court, since lawmakers have a total of 181 days to sit in every legislative cycle, the six-month suspension handed to Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan was equivalent to pushing her away from her responsibilities to her constituents for approximately 180 days.
It held that though the Senate has the power to punish any of its members who err, such sanction must not be excessive to deprive the constituents of their right to be represented.
Justice Nyako equally dismissed Akpabio’s contention that the court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the suit, which he said bordered on an internal affair of the Senate.
Earlier in the ruling, the court imposed a ₦5 million fine on Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan for violating its order, which barred the parties from making public statements about the subject matter of the suit.
It further ordered her to publish an apology within seven days in two national dailies.
Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan is also facing two separate cases of cybercrime and defamation in two separate courts in the nation’s Capital
