The Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal has affirmed the suspension of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, ruling that the Nigerian Senate acted within its constitutional and procedural authority.
In a unanimous judgment delivered on Monday, a three-member panel dismissed the senator’s appeal challenging her suspension. The suit, marked CA/ABJ/CV/1107/2025, was filed against the Clerk of the National Assembly and three others.
The appellate court held that the suspension neither breached Akpoti-Uduaghan’s parliamentary privileges nor violated her constitutional rights.
However, the court struck out the contempt proceedings and set aside the ₦5 million fine imposed on the lawmaker over a satirical apology directed at Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
Delivering the lead judgment, Justice A. B. Muhammed ruled that the Senate President acted in line with Senate Rules when he denied the senator the opportunity to speak during plenary on February 20, 2025, after she failed to occupy her officially assigned seat.
The court emphasized that the Senate President has the authority to allocate and reassign seats, and that lawmakers may only contribute to plenary debates from their designated positions.
It consequently upheld the Senate leadership’s actions as lawful and procedurally sound, nullifying only the contempt sanction.
