Why Senate can’t reinstate Natasha now – Spokesperson
By Emma Ogbuehi
Hopes on the Senator representing Kogi Central Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan returning to the Senate on Tuesday, may not come through as the upper legislative chamber insists on considering the contents of the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the court judgement in the case involving her and the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Sen. Yemi Adaramodu, stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abuja.
The Senate had, on March 6, suspended Akpoti-Uduaghan for six months amid the sexual harassment allegation she had made against Akpabio.
The suspension came after a recommendation from the Senate Committee on Ethics, Code of Conduct and Public Petitions, as presented by the Chairman of the Committee, Sen. Neda Imasuen (APC-Edo South).
As part of the suspension, the senator’s salary and security details were withdrawn, while she was barred from accessing the National Assembly premises.
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She later took the matter to a Federal High Court, Abuja Division, where the presiding judge, Justice Binta Nyako, last week ordered the Senate to recall her from suspension.
The court, however, sanctioned Akpoti-Uduaghan for contempt and ordered her to pay a N5 million fine.
Adaramodu, who is the Senate spokesperson, said that the upper legislative chamber had applied for the CTC, stressing that until the document was received and studied, the Senate could not take a position on the matter.
“The Senate had applied for the CTC since Monday. We expect to receive the document, and upon receipt, we will comply with the court order’s content.
“But first, the senate will sit and consider the contents of the CTC, and when we look at the contents, then we shall take a position,’’ he said.
Adaramodu noted with concern that some Nigerians were fanning the Akpoti-Uduaghan matter out of their low level of understanding of the workings of the Senate.
He said that those acting in that direction were merely wishing the National Assembly to be a lawless institution.
“The Senate, by law, is empowered to make its rules that guide it. If we don’t have rules guiding us, we will become like barbarians.
“If there is no rule on seating, it means that early in the morning, I can wake up and say I want to sit where the president of the Senate is sitting because he is my colleague, and that will turn the whole place into chaos and pandemonium.
“It was on the strength of the aforesaid that the court recently averred in the case between Natasha and Akpabio that there are rules and that the Senate is constitutionally empowered to make rules that will guide its activities.
“It was for this that we have Standing Orders. And enforcing the orders means that anybody who contravenes it, the aggregated whole chamber of the Senate can reprimand such a person,’’ he said.
He also expressed regret that, despite the court ruling, some people continued to say something else.
“Possibly, what they were expecting was that anybody can disobey; anybody can break any rule and that the senate must not take any stand,’’ he said.
According to him, if it is established that the Senate can reprimand an offending senator and that it is not in their books how many days or hours such a senator can be criticised, then it is at the discretion of the Senate to apportion a period for the suspension of a member being reprimanded.
“Whoever that is not a legislator cannot understand how the legislature works,” he said.
The senator, representing Ekiti South Senatorial District, explained that the 180-day suspension handed down to Akpoti-Uduaghan included non-parliamentary days.
“What the senate rules say is that you should observe, adhere to and fulfil the 180 parliamentary days,’’ he said.
The new twist came on the heels of the notice by Natasha to the Senate on her plans to resume legislative duties in line with the judgment of the Federal High Court that she should be allowed to resume representation of her constituents who duly elected her to the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
A letter addressed to the Clerk of the National Assembly by Michael Jonathan Numa (SAN), lawyer to the Senator reprised the Senate that the court ruled that the six-month suspension imposed on Natasha was excessive, overreaching, and inconsistent with her ability to comply with the provisions of Section 63 of the 1999 Constitution.
Besides, Numa said the findings of the court aligns with long-standing judicial precedent as well as the provisions of Order 66(4) of the Senate Standing Orders, 2023 which does not contemplates a suspension exceeding a period of 14days.
The senior lawyer then notified the Senate that Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan intends to resume at the National Assembly on Tuesday, the 15th day of July, 2025.
