Osamagbe Imadiyi
Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, the lawmaker from Kogi Central, has accused Senate President Godswill Akpabio of contempt after the Senate punished her with a six-month suspension. Senator Neda Imasuen, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Code of Conduct, and the clerk of the National Assembly appeared before the Federal High Court in Abuja. The troubled Kogi lawmaker insisted that her suspension was a deliberate violation of an existing order the court had previously issued against the defendants on March 4.
On the basis of her application, the court, in a notice of disobedience of court order signed by its Registrar in accordance with Section 72 of the Sheriff and Civil Process Act 2004, urged the defendants/contemnors to take note of their willful disregard for the order that Justice Obiora Egwuatu had issued them. It issued a warning that Akpabio, Senator Imasuem, and the National Assembly Clerk could face imprisonment for contempt of court if they disobeyed the existing order. As stated in Form 48 on Thursday, the defendants/contemnors “deliberately and contumaciously disregarded” a legally binding order and “proceded with acts in flagrant defiance of the authority of the court.” It was alleged that an enrolled order of the interim injunction that was issued by the court, was duly served on the defendants on March 5.
The Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Code of Conduct was prohibited from “proceeding with the purported investigation against the Plaintiff/Applicant for alleged misconduct sequel to the events that occurred at the plenary of the 2nd Defendant on the 20th day of February, 2025, pursuant to the referral by the 2nd Defendant on 25th February, 2025, pending the hearing and determination of the Motion on Notice for interlocutory injunction” by Justice Egwuatu. This was based on an ex-parte application that Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan filed through her legal team, which was led by Mr. Michael Numa, SAN.
Furthermore, Justice Egwuatu authorized Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan to serve the defendants with the procedures in alternative ways, such as delivering them to the National Assembly Clerk, pasting them on the National Assembly’s oremises, or publishing them in two national dailies. In response to the lawsuit, Senate President Akpabio contested the court’s authority to interfere in Senate business. The court postponed the case’s remaining proceedings until March 25.
