An Abuja Federal High Court on Friday ordered that suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti-Udughan be recalled to the Red Chamber and slammed the Senate for excessive use of power.
Accordong to Justice Binta Nyako, who delivered the judgement, the Senate possesses the power to discipline members, but a six-month suspension contradicted 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.
She noted that none of the sections stipulate a maximum suspension period.
Justice Nyako described the maximum suspension as unconstitutional.
She explained that the National Assembly is required to sit for 181 days in a legislative year and to suspend a lawmaker for roughly the same period means the Senator’s constituency will be denied proper Representation.
Her judgement read, “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 also faulted Senate President Godswill Akpabio’s for implying that the judiciary cannot intefere in the “internal affair” of the legislature, saying the “fundamental rights and representation are matters squarely within the court’s purview”.
Nyako, however,
dismissed Senator Akpoti-Udughan’s claim that Akpabio violated her right during a plenary session by demanding that she only speak from the designated seat.
She imposed a N5 million of the Kogi Central Senator for “breaching a prior court directive”, barring her and the Senate President from making public statements about the ongoing legal matter.
