A federal high court in Abuja has ordered the Senate to recall the senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.
In March, Natasha was suspended by the Senate for six months for alleged gross misconduct, days after a face-off with Senate President Godswill Akpabio over a change of sitting arrangement in the chambers during plenary.
In a ruling on Friday, Justice Binta Nyako described as “excessive”, the six-month suspension that was slammed on the lawmaker by the Senate.
The court 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.
The court stressed that the two legislations failed to specify the maximum period that a serving lawmaker could be suspended from office.
According to the court, since lawmakers have a total of 181 days to sit in every legislative circle, suspending a lawmaker for roughly that same length of time effectively silences the voice of an entire constituency.
“While the Senate has the authority to discipline its members, such sanctions must not go so far as to deny constituents their right to representation,” Nyako ruled.
