Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan will resume her duties at the Senate on Tuesday after a Federal High Court in Abuja nullified her six-month suspension. The court, however, fined her N5 million for contempt of court over a Facebook post deemed to have violated an earlier court order.
Justice Binta Nyako ruled on Friday that the Senate’s suspension of the Kogi Central senator was “excessive, unconstitutional and an infringement on the rights of her constituents.” The court ordered her immediate reinstatement but held that her April 27 Facebook post – a satirical apology directed at Senate President Godswill Akpabio – breached an interim injunction barring public statements about the case.
The Senate has said it will withhold any official action until it obtains and reviews the certified true copy of the judgment. Senate spokesman Yemi Adaramodu stated that while their lawyers were present in court, the full judgment was not read aloud and they had filed to obtain the official document. “Pending receipt and examination of the CTC, the Senate shall refrain from taking any steps that may prejudice its legal position,” Adaramodu said.
Akpoti-Uduaghan was suspended in March following a rowdy plenary session where she accused Akpabio of sexual harassment. The suspension sparked outrage from civil society groups, prompting the senator to challenge it in court as an attempt to silence her and disenfranchise her constituents.
Justice Nyako ordered Akpoti-Uduaghan to publish a public apology in two national newspapers and repost it on her Facebook page within seven days. As of Monday evening, the senator had yet to comply with this directive. The court’s dual ruling – overturning the suspension while punishing the Facebook post – highlights the complex balance between legislative discipline, free speech and judicial oversight in Nigeria’s democracy.
