A Federal High Court in Abuja has ruled that the Nigerian Senate acted beyond its powers by suspending Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan for six months.
The court recently ordered her immediate recall to the Red Chamber, and Nigerians have been reacting.
Justice Binta Nyako, who delivered the judgment, described the duration of the suspension as excessive, saying that it lacks a proper legal foundation.
According to the court, both Chapter 8 of the Senate Standing Orders and Section 14 of the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act, which the upper chamber relied upon, do not back a maximum suspension period; therefore, it was an overreach in the lawmaker’s case.
Justice Binta stated that since the National Assembly only has to sit for 181 days in a legislative year, suspending a lawmaker for roughly that same length of time basically silences the voice of an entire constituency, a move that is clearly unconstitutional.
“While the Senate has the authority to discipline its members, such sanctions must not go so far as to deny constituents their right to representation,” she said.
The court, however, sided with Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, for refusing to let Akpoti-Uduaghan speak during a plenary, on the grounds that she was not seated in her designated chair.
The judge noted that the decision not to let Natasha speak did not amount to a violation of her rights.
Justice Binta then dismissed Akpabio’s argument that the judiciary had no business interfering in the internal affairs of the legislature, clarifying that fundamental rights and representation are matters firmly within the court’s purview.
She concluded by imposing a financial penalty on Natasha for breaching a prior court directive that prevented both parties from making public statements about the ongoing legal matter.
