Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court in Abuja has set June 27 as the date for delivering judgement in a suit filed by Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who is contesting her suspension from the Senate.
The Kogi Central senator had taken the Senate to court over her suspension, claiming misconduct and bias on the part of those involved, under the leadership of Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
The National Assembly, the Senate, Senate President Akpabio, and Senator Neda Imasuen, who chairs the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Code of Conduct, are named as defendants in the case.
When the matter came up, counsel for Akpoti-Uduaghan, Jibrin Okutekpa (SAN), informed the court that the plaintiff had submitted all necessary documents as directed.
Lawyers for the Senate and its President, Paul Daudu and Ekwo Ejembi, confirmed their filings and drew the court’s attention to a motion alleging the plaintiff’s disobedience of a prior court order.
The defence argued that Akpoti-Uduaghan violated the court’s order by sharing a satirical letter addressed to the Senate President on her Facebook page and in national newspapers on March 27.
Responding to the allegation, Michael Numan (SAN), the plaintiff’s lawyer, confirmed receiving the contempt motion, but pointed out that a similar motion had previously been filed against the defendants, and argued that the statement attributed to Akpoti-Uduaghan was unrelated to her, stating that ‘the alleged contemptuous statement had no connection to the plaintiff.’
