A federal high court in Abuja on Friday faulted the suspension of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan for six months.
Justice Binta Nyako who described the suspension as “excessive” called on the senate to recall the lawmaker representing Kogi Central.
The embattled Senator was suspended for six months by the Senate on March 6, after a report from the Senate’s Committee on Ethics and Privileges found her guilty of misconduct following her altercation with Senate President Godswill Akpabio, but while delivering judgement today, the presiding judge, Justice Binta Nyako, described the six months suspension of the Senator as excessive.
Justice Nyako also faulted the provision of Chapter 8 of the Senate Standing Rules as well as section 14 of the Legislative Houses, Powers & Privileges Act, declaring both as overreaching, stressing that the two legislations failed to specify the maximum period that a serving lawmaker could be suspended from office.
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According to the judge, since lawmakers have a total of 181 days to sit in every legislative circle, the six-month suspension handed to Akpoti-Uduaghan was “akin to pushing her away from her responsibilities to her constituents for about 180 days.’
She however, held that though the Senate has the power to punish any of its members who err, such sanction must not be excessive to deprive the constituents of their right to be represented.
Justice Nyako equally dismissed Akpabio’s contention that the court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the suit which he said bordered on an internal affair of the Senate.
Earlier in the ruling, Justice Nyako had found Sen. Natasha guilty of contempt for violating a court order by publishing a satirical apology to Akpabio on her Facebook page on April 7.
The court therefore, imposed a fine of N5m on her and ordered her to publish an apology in two national dailies within seven days