Why we can’t reinstate Natasha now – Senate spokesperson

The Senate has announced that it cannot reinstate Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan until it reviews the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the court judgment related to her case against Senate President Godswill Akpabio.

Senator Yemi Adaramodu, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, made this statement during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abuja.

According to NAN, the Senate suspended Akpoti-Uduaghan for six months on March 6 due to allegations of sexual harassment she made against Akpabio. This suspension followed a recommendation from the Senate Committee on Ethics, Code of Conduct, and Public Petitions, which was presented by its Chairman, Senator Neda Imasuen (APC-Edo South).

As part of the suspension, Akpoti-Uduaghan’s salary and security details were revoked, and she was prohibited from accessing the National Assembly premises.

She 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 N5 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 receive the document, and upon receipt, we will comply with the court order’s content.

“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,’’ he said.

Adaramodu noted with concern that some Nigerians were fanning the Akpoti-Uduaghan matter out of their low level of understanding of the workings of the Senate.

He said that those acting in that direction were merely wishing the National Assembly to be a lawless institution.

“The Senate, by law, is empowered to make its rules that guide it. If we don’t have rules guiding us, we will become like barbarians.

“If there is no rule on seating, it means that early in the morning, I can wake up and say I want to sit where the president of the Senate is sitting because he is my colleague, and that will turn the whole place into chaos and pandemonium.

“It was on the strength of those above that the court recently averred in the case between Natasha and Akpabio that there are rules and that the Senate is constitutionally empowered to make rules that will guide its activities.

“It was for this that we have Standing Orders. And enforcing the orders means that anybody who contravenes it, the aggregated whole chamber of the Senate can reprimand such a person,’’ he said.

He also expressed regret that, despite the court ruling, some people continued to say 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 can be criticised, 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 fulfil the 180 parliamentary days,’’ he said.

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