A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), West Idahosa, has faulted the suspension of Kogi Central Senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, by the Senate despite a court order restraining the red chambers from meting out any sanction to the lawmaker.
Idahosa, who represented Ovia South-West/Ovia North-East Federal Constituency from 1999 to 2007, said the disobedience to court orders under Senate President Godswill Akpabio was damaging.
“The most damaging is the blazing disobedience to court order. It is very untenable for a law-making body,” he said on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday hours after the upper legislative arm slammed a six-month suspension for violation of Senate rules.
Citing Section 4, Sub-Section 8 of the 1999 Constitution, the senior advocate said the Senate was wrong to have suspended the female senator. “In the conduct of its legislative powers and duties, their conduct shall be subject to the judiciary,” he said.
Interpreting the Legislative Powers and Privileges Acts, he said most courts are of the view that the Senate and the House of Representatives can’t suspend a lawmaker for more than 14 days.
Idahosa said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lawmaker was not given a fair hearing and that her suspension was pre-determined by the senators.
He said, “A few days ago, a court order was served on the Senate of Nigeria and the committee in charge of ethics. They got the substituted order to serve on the Senate through the Clerk. This was done.
“In spite, you then sit down and rush a committee report and then the person is accused and likely to suffer from the suspension order was not even present.
“There was no fairing in line with the provisions of the Constitution, Section 36; you disobeyed flagrantly a court order. and then you turn around to say the judiciary should improve when we are ones by this behaviour undermining judicial institutions in this country.
“If I were the judge and the appropriate applications were made before me, I would go very far to make that point strong.”
Back Story
The protracted feud between Akpabio and Akpoti-Uduaghan reached a climax on Thursday, March 6, 2025, when the Senate wielded the big stick and suspended the Kogi Central Senator who accused the senate president of sexual harassment and abuse of office after a seat arrangement conflict on February 20, 2025.
Akpabio denied the sexual harassment allegations against him by the Kogi lawmaker.
The female senator also slammed a N100bn alleged defamation suit on him while the Akpabio-led upper legislative chamber has referred her to the Senate disciplinary committee.
The Kogi lawmaker subsequently approached a Federal High Court in Abuja and got an order restraining the Senate committee from conducting disciplinary proceedings against the female senator with the case adjourned to March 10, 2025.
On Wednesday, March 5, 2025, the Senate committee dismissed Akpoti-Uduaghan’s sexual harassment and abuse of office petition against the senate president, declaring it “dead on arrival” based on procedural violations and legal constraints but the female senator re-submitted the petition on Thursday.
The seat row wasn’t the first between Akpabio and Akpoti-Uduaghan. In July 2024, the Senate President apologised to the female lawmaker over his nightclub comment against the female lawmaker.
