The 10th Senate has reacted to the nullification of the six-month suspension on Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan by a Federal High Court in Abuja.
News360 Info reports that Justice Binta Nyako, in her judgment on Friday, ordered the Senate to reinstate the Kogi Central senator, describing her suspension as excessive.
In March, Akpoti-Uduaghan was suspended by the Red Chamber for six months for alleged gross misconduct, following her face-off with the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, over the sitting arrangement.
Reacting to the judgment while addressing newsmen, the Senate Spokesperson, Yemi Adaramodu, stated that the court judgment does not override the Senate’s constitutional powers to discipline its members.
He insisted that the Red Chamber would not immediately reinstate the embattled senator.
He said, “Which judgment are we appealing when they (the court) said the Senate has the right to discipline its erring members? The court has not ousted the Senate’s statutory right to punish any erring senator.
“It was established that the senator in question erred. The court has already told her to go and do some things, like restitution, so after the restitution, the Senate will now sit again and consider the content of that restitution, and that will inform our next line of action.”
The Senate, he explained, would only reconvene to deliberate on the matter after Akpoti-Uduaghan had complied with the court’s directives.
“The onus is no more on us now; it is already on her doorstep to go and apologise. Once she does that, then the Senate will sit and determine how to deal with her matter.
“The first reaction now will not be from us, the court has ruled, so once she takes the step to redress and does what the court has directed her to do, then the Senate will sit and look at the content of her reaction as prescribed by the court,” Adaramodu added.
