Senator Natasha Drags Senate to Court After Reinstatement Order Ignored

Following Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s  blockade at the gates of the National Assembly on Tuesday, she has announced plans to engage her legal team in pursuit of further court clarification and enforcement of her reinstatement.

The Kogi Central lawmaker, who was earlier suspended by the Senate for six months, was stopped by security officials from accessing the chamber despite a recent ruling by Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court voiding the suspension. The court had declared the Senate’s action unconstitutional and ordered her immediate reinstatement.

In an emotional address to journalists outside the Assembly complex, Akpoti-Uduaghan accused the Senate leadership, under President Godswill Akpabio, of acting in contempt of court.

“Akpabio cannot be greater than the Nigerian Constitution. I want Nigerians to know that the Office of the Senate President doesn’t give me legitimacy as a senator. The fact that he has done an appeal does not invalidate the decision of Justice Binta Nyako, and that does not stop me from being a senator. I got my legitimacy as a senator from the people of Kogi who voted me into office as senator,” she said.

She further condemned the actions of the Senate, saying, “That I’ve been denied entrance to the National Assembly is a statement being made. It’s on record that the National Assembly under Akpabio has decided to be in contempt of a court decision, and it’s quite ironic that they are lawmakers. That poses the question: how far is our democracy in this day and age?”

Calling her suspension “fraudulent,” the senator questioned the process and documentation used against her. “Even the suspension ab initio was fraudulent — the document was faulty,” she stated.

Akpoti-Uduaghan confirmed that she would now seek legal interpretation at the appellate level. “Going forward, I will have a meeting with my legal team so they proceed to the appellate court to seek interpretation into what just happened. I’m a law-abiding citizen,” she said.

As of the time of this report, the Senate has not made any official statement regarding the enforcement of the court’s decision or the events that unfolded at the Assembly gates.

VANGUARD