The Senate has explained why the suspended Kogi Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan can’t be reinstated now
The red chamber said it will not recall the lawmaker until it considers the contents of the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the court judgment in the case involving her and the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Sen. Yemi Adaramodu, made this revelation in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Sunday in Abuja.
Recall that the Senate had, on March 6, suspended Akpoti-Uduaghan for six months amid the sexual harassment allegation she had made against Akpabio.
The suspension came after a recommendation from the Senate Committee on Ethics, Code of Conduct and Public Petitions, as presented by the Chairman of the Committee, Sen. Neda Imasuen (APC–Edo South).
Natasha later took the matter to a Federal High Court, Abuja Division, where the presiding judge, Justice Binta Nyako, last week ordered the Senate to recall her from suspension.
The court, however, sanctioned Akpoti-Uduaghan for contempt and ordered her to pay a ₦5 million fine.
Adaramodu, who is the Senate spokesperson, said that the upper legislative chamber had applied for the CTC, stressing that until the document was received and studied, the Senate could not take a position on the matter.
“The Senate had applied for the CTC since Monday. We expect to get the document, and once we get it, we are going to comply with the content of the court order.
“But first, the Senate will sit and consider the contents of the CTC, and when we look at the contents, then we shall take a position.
“It was for this that we have Standing Orders. And enforcing the orders means that anybody that contravenes it, the aggregated whole chamber of the Senate can reprimand such a person,’’ he said.
He also expressed regret that even when the court ruling had given vent to that, some people were still saying something else.
“Possibly, what they were expecting was that anybody can disobey; anybody can break any rule, and that the Senate must not take any stand,’’ he said.
According to him, if it is established that the Senate can reprimand an offending senator and that it is not in their books how many days or hours such a senator being reprimanded can be given, then it is at the discretion of the Senate to apportion a period for the suspension of a member being reprimanded.
“Whoever that is not a legislator cannot understand how the legislature works,” he said.
The senator representing Ekiti South Senatorial District explained that the 180-day suspension handed down to Akpoti-Uduaghan included non-parliamentary days.
“What the Senate rules say is that you should observe, adhere to, and fulfill the 180 parliamentary days,’’ he said.
