The Senate has stated that it cannot reinstate Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan until it reviews the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the court judgment regarding her suspension and the case involving Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
This clarification was made by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Yemi Adaramodu, during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abuja.
NAN recalls that Akpoti-Uduaghan was suspended for six months on March 6, following allegations of sexual harassment she leveled against Senate President Akpabio.
Her suspension was based on recommendations by the Senate Committee on Ethics, Code of Conduct, and Public Petitions, chaired by Senator Neda Imasuen (APC-Edo South). As part of the disciplinary action, her salary and security details were withdrawn, and she was barred from entering the National Assembly premises.
Akpoti-Uduaghan challenged the decision in a Federal High Court in Abuja, where Justice Binta Nyako ruled last week that the Senate should reinstate her. However, the court also found her in contempt and imposed a fine of ₦5 million.
Senator Adaramodu said the Senate has applied for the CTC of the judgment and emphasized that no action will be taken until the document is officially received and thoroughly examined.
“The Senate had applied for the CTC since Monday. We expect to receive the document, and upon receipt, we will comply with the court order’s content.
“But first, the senate will sit and consider the contents of the CTC, and when we look at the contents, then we shall take a position,’’ he said.
Adaramodu noted with concern that some Nigerians were fanning the Akpoti-Uduaghan matter out of their low level of understanding of the workings of the Senate.
He said that those acting in that direction were merely wishing the National Assembly to be a lawless institution.
“The Senate, by law, is empowered to make its rules that guide it. If we don’t have rules guiding us, we will become like barbarians.
“If there is no rule on seating, it means that early in the morning, I can wake up and say I want to sit where the president of the Senate is sitting because he is my colleague, and that will turn the whole place into chaos and pandemonium.
“It was on the strength of the aforesaid that the court recently averred in the case between Natasha and Akpabio that there are rules and that the Senate is constitutionally empowered to make rules that will guide its activities.
“It was for this that we have Standing Orders. And enforcing the orders means that anybody who contravenes it, the aggregated whole chamber of the Senate can reprimand such a person,’’ he said.
He also expressed regret that, despite the court ruling, some people continued to say something else.
“Possibly, what they were expecting was that anybody can disobey; anybody can break any rule and that the senate must not take any stand,’’ he said.
According to him, if it is established that the Senate can reprimand an offending senator and that it is not in their books how many days or hours such a senator can be criticised, then it is at the discretion of the Senate to apportion a period for the suspension of a member being reprimanded.
“Whoever that is not a legislator cannot understand how the legislature works,” he said.
The senator, representing Ekiti South Senatorial District, explained that the 180-day suspension handed down to Akpoti-Uduaghan included non-parliamentary days.
“What the senate rules say is that you should observe, adhere to and fulfil the 180 parliamentary days,’’ he said.