The Court of Appeal in Abuja, on Monday, affirmed that the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, acted within his constitutional powers by suspending Kogi Central representative, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan on grounds of misconduct.
In its verdict, a three-member panel of Justices held that Mr Akpabio was constitutionally empowered to relocate Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan’s seat, deny her speaking right from an unallocated seat, as well as refer her to the senate’s ethics committee for investigation.
The presiding judge, Justice Abba Muhammed, however, nullified the contempt charge and N5 million fine previously imposed on Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan over a satirical apology she directed at Mr Akpabio.
Earlier in 2025, Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan filed a suit seeking to stop the senate’s Ethics and Petition Committee from initiating disciplinary charges against her.
In her ruling, a High Court judge, Binta Nyako, ruled at the time that the senate president has the power to alter seating arrangements as provided under the Senate Rules.
She, however, faulted the six-month duration for which Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan was suspended, describing the time-range as “overreaching” and “excessive”.
In the same ruling, Mrs Nyako found the Kogi senator guilty of contempt by publishing a satirical apology to the Senate President.
She ordered Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan to pay a N5 million fine, as well as publish an apology to the court in two national dailies and on her Facebook handle.
