Garba Mohammed
A Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday ruled that the Nigerian Senate acted ultra vires in suspending Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan for six months, ordering her immediate reinstatement to the National Assembly.
Delivering judgment, Justice Binta Nyako declared the suspension unlawful, describing its duration as “excessive” and lacking any firm legal foundation. She ruled that the upper chamber overstepped its authority under Chapter 8 of the Senate Standing Orders and Section 14 of the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act, neither of which explicitly define the length or limit of a suspension.
The court held that suspending a duly elected senator for nearly the entire legislative year—given that the National Assembly is constitutionally mandated to sit for only 181 days annually—amounts to unjustly depriving an entire constituency of representation, an action deemed unconstitutional.
“While the Senate reserves the right to discipline its members, such disciplinary measures must not infringe on the fundamental rights of the constituents to be represented in the legislature,” Justice Nyako ruled.
In a related matter, the court upheld Senate President Godswill Akpabio’s decision to bar Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan from speaking during a plenary session, noting that his action—based on her failure to sit in her assigned seat—did not amount to a violation of her rights.
Justice Nyako also dismissed Akpabio’s contention that the matter was purely an “internal affair” of the legislature and therefore outside judicial review. She stressed that issues involving constitutional rights and citizen representation fall squarely within the jurisdiction of the courts.
In a twist, however, the court sanctioned Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan for contempt, imposing a five million-naira fine for violating a prior court order which restrained both parties from making public statements on the ongoing legal dispute.
The ruling marks a significant judicial intervention in legislative conduct and reaffirms the court’s role in safeguarding democratic representation and constitutional rights.
