“The President of the Nigerian Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has filed an appeal against the judgment of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which ruled the suspension of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan as excessive and unconstitutional.
The court, in its July 4th ruling by Justice Binta Nyako, maintained that although the Senate holds disciplinary powers, the six-month suspension denied the people of Kogi Central effective representation.
However, Senator Akpabio, in a Notice of Cross-Appeal lodged at the Court of Appeal, argued that the lower court erred in law by assuming jurisdiction in a matter it had no constitutional authority to entertain.
He contended that the Federal High Court lacks the jurisdiction to determine disputes relating to internal legislative matters as provided in Section 251 of the Nigerian Constitution.
Akpabio further submitted that Senator Natasha’s suit was premature, as the Senate Committee on Ethics, Code of Conduct, and Public Petitions had not concluded its investigation or submitted its report to the Senate at the time she filed the case. Therefore, he said, the cause of action had not fully matured for litigation, making the suit incompetent.
In addition, Akpabio insisted that the court violated legislative privileges by entertaining a case founded on words spoken during a Senate plenary session. He cited Section 1 of the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act, which protects lawmakers from civil or criminal proceedings over their utterances or actions in the chamber.
The appeal also faulted the lower court for raising and determining issues, such as the excessiveness of the suspension, on its own without any request or relief to that effect from Senator Natasha. Akpabio maintained that such a decision violated the principle of fair hearing and amounted to judicial overreach.
The Senate President further argued that the court granted reliefs not sought by the plaintiff when it recommended that the Senate should recall Senator Natasha to continue her legislative duties. According to the Senate President, this was an unlawful overstep of judicial boundaries.
Akpabio is now seeking to have the decision of the Federal High Court set aside, insisting that the lower court occasioned a gross miscarriage of justice by interfering with legislative procedures and exceeding its constitutional limits.”
