The Nigerian Senate, under the leadership of Godswill Akpabio, is facing backlash for disregarding a court order in the suspension of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who represents Kogi Central.
On Thursday, Natasha was suspended for six months after the Senate disciplinary committee found her guilty of breaching its rules following her sexual harassment allegations against Akpabio.
The suspension, effective from March 6, 2025, includes additional restrictions.
Presenting the panel’s report during Thursday’s plenary, the committee, chaired by Neda Imaseun, stated that Natasha’s actions had tarnished the reputation of the Senate and its presiding officer.
“That the Senate should suspend Senator Natasha for six months for her violation of the Senate Standing Rules 2023 as amended, for bringing the Senate President (presiding officer) and the Senate in general to public disgrace,” Imaseun declared.
However, documents shared by SaharaReporters revealed that the Senate’s action violated a court ruling.
The records showed that Natasha had previously approached the Federal High Court, Abuja Judicial Division, in the case “FHC/ABJ/CS/384/25; between Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan v. The Clerk of the National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria & 3 Ors.”
In its ruling on March 4, 2025, the court granted “an interim order restraining the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Code of Conduct from proceeding with any investigation against Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan concerning the alleged misconduct arising from the events that occurred during the Senate plenary on 20th February, 2025.”
The court order was to remain in effect until the motion on notice was heard and determined, with the next hearing scheduled for March 10, 2025.
Reacting to the Senate’s defiance of the court order, Barrister Hamza Nuhu Dantani criticized the Senate’s disregard for the rule of law and the constitution, which they swore to uphold.
He said, “An alien from another planet new to this country would have heard of the ongoing saga between Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan and Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
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“In total disregard for the Federal High Court’s valid order, the same Senate Committee suspended Senator Natasha for six months today, March 6th, 2025. With tremendous respect, I submit that this is contrary to the rule of law, which stipulates that all persons and institutions are subject to the rule of law.
“A key component of the rule of law is obedience to court orders. Court orders are not made for mere fun. They have to be obeyed. The court of appeal, in the case of Adesoye v. Olagunju (1998) 6 NWLR (Pt. 552) 65, stated thus:
‘For the sake of emphasis, it must be reiterated that a court of law is not a toothless bulldog. It must bark and bite as circumstances may demand. Court’s orders, whatever their nature, must certainly be obeyed.’
“Not done, the three wise men held in Balonwu v. Obi (2007) 5 NWLR (Pt. 1028) 488 that: ‘An order of court, whether valid or not, must be obeyed until it is set aside. An order of court must be obeyed as long as it subsists by all, no matter how lowly or highly placed in society. An act of disobedience towards an order of a court can render any further act by those who have acted disobediently to sanctions from another court because no court would want its orders flouted. This is what the rule of law is all about.’
“The Supreme Court in the case of Mobil Oil (Nig.) Ltd. v. Assan (1995) 8 NWLR (Pt. 412) 129 pronounced the following words with all authority: ‘It is the plain and unqualified obligation of every person against, or in respect of whom, an order is made by a court of competent jurisdiction, to obey it unless and until that order is discharged or set aside on appeal. This extends even to cases where the person affected by an order believes it to be irregular or void.’
“Those are not my words but the words of the highest court in the land. In the matter at hand, since we are in a democratic society, the proper course the Senate Committee would have followed was to suspend today’s proceedings in obedience to the court’s order. It can then apply to have the order set aside, as it is its right to do so.
“The action taken by the Senate Committee is, in my opinion, an affront to the judicial arm of government. It ridicules the judiciary as a toothless bulldog and derides the court’s orders as paper tigers.
“An institution like the Senate should exemplify how citizens and institutions are subject to law; it should not be seen as encouraging disobedience to court orders. If an institution constitutionally mandated to make laws cannot respect court orders, how can it inspire citizens to obey or even respect the rule of law?
“Therefore, in my opinion, the Senate Committee’s decision to suspend Senator Natasha instead of obeying the order of a court of competent jurisdiction renders the suspension process invalid.”
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