Sunday Ejike, Author at Tribune Online

Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, has fixed June 27, 2025 to deliver judgment in the suit filed by suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, challenging her six months suspension by the Senate. Justice Binta Nyako fixed the date for judgement in the matter, after all the parties adopted their final briefs of argument in the suit marked, FHC/ABJ/CS/384/2025, with the Clerk of the National Assembly, the Senate, the Senate President, and Senator Neda Imasuem, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Code of Conduct as 1st to 4th defendants respectively. The Court had, on Monday adjourned till Tuesday afternoon for hearing of all pending motions, including those relating to alleged contempt of court and the substantive suit. The Kogi lawmaker had, through her lead counsel, Mr. Jubril Okutekpa, SAN, urged the court to invalidate her suspension which she said was done in disobedience to a valid court order. However, the defendants challenged the jurisdiction of the court to meddle into what they considered as an internal affair of the Senate. Tuesday’s proceedings was marked by arguments over the proper processes to be adopted. Counsel to the 3rd defendant, Mr. Kehinde Ogunwumiju, SAN had earlier applied for all parties to formally withdraw processes no longer relied upon in the matter in order to avoid confusion before adoption. However, Justice Nyako advised that such an application which is in the form of housekeeping ought to have been made earlier. On the issue of contempt, Michael Numan, SAN, who represented the plaintiff on Tuesday, prayed the court to first address the two contempt applications against the defendants, but the court advised that since the parties had failed to harmonize the processes, all filed processes would be adopted, and the court would sift out irrelevant ones. Consequently, the 1st defendant, adopted their processes challenging the jurisdiction of the court to hear the matter, objected to the grant of interlocutory injunctions and urged the court to dismiss the originating processes filed by the plaintiff. Similarly, the 2nd, 3rd and 4th defendants adopted all their processes they filed in the matter, while urging the court to strike out the suit for want of jurisdiction and to disregard the plaintiff’s claims. Justice Nyako, after listening to all parties, said, she would first consider the contempt issues and preliminary objections and, "If they succeed, the matter stops there, if not, we proceed," she said and adjourned till June 27 for judgment. Akpoti-Uduaghan, representing Kogi Central in the Senate had approached the court to restrain the Senate from taking any disciplinary actions against her pending the hearing of a suit against the leadership of the Senate. The court granted the request on March 4, and summoned the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions amongst others to appear before the court in respect of the matter. However, the Senate went ahead to suspend Akpoti-Uduaghan for six months on the following day, March 5. At the hearing of the matter on April 4, Justice Nyako barred Akpabio, Akpoti-Uduaghan as well as their respective lawyers from speaking with the media on the substantive issue and fixed May 12 for hearing of all pending applications. However, the Senate President who is the 3rd defendant in the suit, on May 5 brought an application seeking an order of court, directing the suspended senator to delete the viral satirical letter from her Facebook page and also tender an apology to the court for violating the order barring her from speaking with the media. Responding, Akpoti-Uduaghan in a counter affidavit filed on May 8, submitted that it was the third defendant who, through his legal representatives, Chief Olisa Agbakoba and Monday Ubani both SANs, that violated the orders of the court. In defending the satirical letter, the plaintiff argued that, whereas the issue before the court centred on her alleged unlawful suspension, her letter addressed to Akpabio and not the court was on her alleged sexual harassment by the Senate president. In a 28-paragraph affidavit, the Kogi senator accordingly urged the court to reject the application for being incompetent since it was aimed at gagging her right to freedom of expression and frustrate hearing in her suit before the court. “The letter under reference was not addressed to the court, had no nexus with the subject matter before court when construed side-by-side the issues for determination and the relief sought. “It is our submission that this application is an affront to the authority and majesty of the court. The application is simply an attempt to change the normative of the case from the substance therein. The sole objective of the application is to foist an adjournment on court in a bid to further delay the determination of this matter on the merit,” she added. READ MORE FROM: NIGERIAN TRIBUNE