*Say Blocking Akpoti-Uduaghan Violates Constituents’ Rights
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Prominent Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) have criticised the Senate’s decision to prevent Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan from resuming her legislative duties despite serving out her six-month suspension.
The upper chamber, through the Acting Clerk to the National Assembly, Dr Yahaya Danzaria, had written to the Kogi Central lawmaker on September 4, stating that her suspension would remain in effect until the Court of Appeal rules on her suit against the Senate.
But several SANs argued that the Senate’s position was constitutionally wrong, unjustifiable, and tantamount to an unlawful extension of her suspension.
Adedayo Adedeji (SAN) said it was both prudent and proper for the lawmaker to be reinstated immediately, having completed her suspension term.
“While Section 60 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) empowers the Senate to regulate its own procedure, Section 68 makes clear that a member can only vacate a seat in circumstances expressly provided by the Constitution. A temporary suspension must not be used in a way that effectively denies constituents their right to representation,” he argued.
Adedeji also cited the caution of Justice Binta Nyako in Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan v. Clerk of the National Assembly & Ors (FHC/ABJ/CS/384/2025), where the judge warned against excessive suspensions that undermine constitutional representation.
Similarly, Wale Balogun (SAN) emphasised that Natasha’s resumption should not be tied to her ongoing court case since the six months had already elapsed.
“She has, by exclusion of time, served her suspension. Whether the suspension was rightly or wrongly imposed remains before the court, but that does not stop her from resuming. Otherwise, we are talking of perpetual suspension,” he said.
Balogun likened the situation to a prisoner who has completed his sentence but continues to await a judicial declaration of wrongful conviction. “The case will determine entitlements and damages, but it cannot extend the punishment already served,” he stressed.
In his remarks, Paul Obi (SAN) also condemned the Senate’s stance, calling it “wrong, unjustifiable, overreaching, and an overkill.”
“The Senate has insisted on six months, and she has served six months. To now use the courts as a tool to extend her suspension is ultra vires and unconstitutional. It amounts to surreptitiously prolonging her punishment. That is not right,” Obi declared.
Echoing this view, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa (SAN) warned that the refusal to allow the senator back was equivalent to illegally extending the suspension.
“Once the six months expire, she should automatically resume her seat. Failure to do so portrays the Senate as vindictive and petty. The case pending in court is limited to the validity of the six-month suspension and her entitlements. It cannot justify barring her from resuming,” he said.
Adegboruwa added that preventing her from returning deprives millions of her constituents of representation, stressing that the purpose of suspension had already been fulfilled.
However, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN) offered a contrary perspective. He advised both Natasha and the Senate to allow the pending appeals and cross-appeals to run their course in the appellate courts.
“On Natasha, the last time I checked, I thought I saw both parties in court with appeals and cross appeals. This means that both parties should fight their appeals and await the court’s pronouncement,” Ozekhome stated.
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