Political pundits, lawyers and analysts have reacted to the Senate’s rejection of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s resumption for her legislative duties after serving out her six months suspension.

The Senate said Tuesday that Natasha can’t resume plenary on September 23, when the red chamber is slated to resume from its annual recess because the issue of her suspension is still pending in court.

In a letter signed by the Acting Clerk to the National Assembly, Dr. Yahaya Danzaria, the Senate acknowledged receiving Natasha’s notice that she planned to resume on September 4, 2025, which she said marked the end of her suspension.

But the Senate explained that her suspension began on March 6, 2025, and remains in force until the Court of Appeal rules on the case she filed challenging her suspension.

How it started

Recall that the Senate had in March suspended Natasha for six months over alleged misconduct and refusal to comply with the chamber’s sitting arrangement during plenary on February 20, 2025. But the senator approached the Federal High Court in Abuja, to seek redress.

The court ruled that the Senate acted beyond its powers by suspending Senator Natasha for six months and ordered for her recall.

Justice Binta Nyako, who delivered the judgement, described the duration of the suspension as “excessive” and without a clear legal foundation.

The judge pointed out that since the National Assembly is only required to sit for 181 days in a legislative year, suspending a lawmaker for roughly that same length of time effectively silences the voice of an entire constituency—a move she described as unconstitutional.

Since then Natasha has been making attempts to resume her legislative duties. On July 2, she was prevented from gaining entry into the National Assembly Complex to attend plenary.

Security operatives, who kept vigil at all the entrance gates to the National Assembly with their vans, had locked all the gates on Natasha’s arrival. The senator was in company of her supporters and political allies who came in solidarity with her.

Last Sunday, Victor Giwa, her lawyer, had told journalists that the Kogi lawmaker would be resuming plenary on September 23.

“Actually, she is ready to resume her term. She is in London. Everything is in place, and the six months have expired. The only thing left is her resumption,” Giwa said.

“We have been told that even the leadership of the Senate is ready to welcome her. So that’s the situation at the moment. There is no obstacle at all,” he added.

Akpabio appeals judgement

But Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, appealed the judgement on Natasha’s suspension.

He argued that the Federal High Court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the case, noting that it was premature since the Senate Committee on Ethics, Code of Conduct, and Public Petitions had not completed its investigation when the suit was filed.

Following this, the Acting Clerk to the National Assembly, Dr. Yahaya Danzaria, in the letter yesterday said, “The matter remains sub-judice, and until the judicial process is concluded, no administrative action can be taken to facilitate your resumption.”

Natasha mum

Meanwhile, Senator Natasha neither issued a statement regarding the development nor reacted through other means.

She neither answered calls to her phone line nor replied to an SMS and a WhatsApp message sent to her phone by one of our reporters for comments on the matter.

The lawmaker’s associates including Isah Bala, who responds to media inquiries on her behalf, also failed to comment on the matter.

It’s a threat to democracy – PDP

Reacting, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) condemned the attempt by the Clerk of the National Assembly to bar Senator Natasha from resuming after the “unjust six months suspension imposed on her” describing it as a threat to democracy.

The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, in a statement yesterday said the action of the Clerk “smacks of a calculated attempt orchestrated by Akpabio, the APC and the Senate leadership to abridge the right of representation of the people of Kogi Central Senatorial District and deny them a voice at the highest law-making body in the country.”

The leading opposition party said the move to use the National Assembly establishment against an elected Senator is a gross violation of the provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and the Standing Rules of the Senate.

The party also described the development as “highly provocative and constitutes a clear and present danger to democracy and overall stability of our country.”

The PDP said, “We demand that the Senate President should come clean on the various allegations instead of seeking to use the National Assembly establishment to further harass, intimidate and keep Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan away from the Senate.”

The party asked the Clerk to withdraw the said letter and play by the rules by being neutral as a bureaucrat and not allow himself to be used as a tool to undermine democracy and the rule of law.

However, a former chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association, Garki-Abuja Branch, Obioma Ezenwobo Esq, said that pending court matters involving Akpoti-Uduaghan do not have any link to her resumption at the Senate chambers.

“The resolution of the Senate suspending her is like a court order which has an expiration date; once the time stipulated on it is due, it is deemed expired, and Senator Natasha has every legal right to rejoin her colleagues in the Senate,” he said.

“To hold against this position by the Senate leadership or anyone is to embark on further illegality and legislative rascality. Mind you, a court of competent jurisdiction has declared the prolonged suspension illegal as it is not in consonance with the Senate Rules,” he added.

Similarly, E.M.D. Umukoro Esq, criticized the action of the Senate, saying the fact that there is a pending appeal over an earlier order of the Federal High Court delivered on July 4 for the restoration of the senator does not act as a stay.

“When a court makes an order, until it is set aside, parties are to obey that order because it is law; parties are bound by it, having subjected themselves to the court processes,” he said.

“The government of any nation, particularly in a presidential system, is not only the executive, or the legislative or the judiciary that makes up that government.

“So, whenever an order is given and one of the parties happens to be part of the government whether it is an agency of the government or functionary of the government, the government must do everything to obey court orders, otherwise, the government is sending a wrong signal to citizens and other countries in the international community that the country is lawless and can hand pick which orders to obey.

“That a party who is aggrieved by an order of a court has appealed against a matter, it does not mean that the appeal operates as a stay of the judgement of the lower court. Until you obtain an order either from the court that gave that judgement or to the Court of Appeal to obtain an order that says stay the execution of this judgement or the orders of the court, the fact that you have filed an appeal does not operate as a stay.

“Therefore, it is absolutely wrong for the Senate as an institution or its president to flout, disobey or disregard the judgement of the court; and I think the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the APC, NBA, journalists, and the civil society should wade in as this is a dangerous trend.”

Others weigh in

Also, a former member of the House of Representatives and governorship candidate of the PDP and later, the APC, in Rivers State, Hon. Bernard Mikko, told Daily Trust in a telephone interview that the issue is not legal, but a political one, stressing the need for a truce for Senator Natasha to resume plenary.

He said, “For me, there is a need for political negotiation, so that she can come back and represent her people. This is all politics. I will suggest they come to a truce so that she can come back.”

Similarly, an elder statesman and former presidential candidate, Chief Chekwas Okorie, told Daily Trust that the development is an embarrassment to Nigeria.

He said, “Other countries are watching. The length of suspension is too much. A federal High Court has given a judgement that she should be recalled, but instead, the Senate President filed an appeal.

“The Clerk, of course, serving under Akpabio, issued this type of statement. This is not fair to Senator Natasha. I don’t know what they think about themselves. They don’t care what Nigerians and non-Nigerians will think about them. This is shameful.” (Daily Trust)