A Certified True Copy (CTC) of the judgment delivered by the Federal High Court in Abuja on July 4, 2025, has revealed that Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan is to tender an apology solely to the court, not to the Senate, as part of the conditions to purge herself of contempt.
News360 Info reports that this clarification contradicts earlier remarks by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Yemi Adaramodu, who suggested that the embattled Kogi Central lawmaker needed to apologise to the Senate before being reinstated.
According to the judgment by Justice Binta Nyako, Akpoti-Uduaghan was found guilty of contempt for a comment she made on her Facebook page, which violated an existing court order.
She was ordered to: “Pay a fine in the sum of ₦5 million to the Federal Government Treasury and publish a public apology to the court in two (2) national dailies and on her Facebook page within 7 days.”
This directive is explicitly outlined in the court documents signed by court officials Kanu Ngozi and Ifeanacho Amarachi, and reported by The Guardian.
In the same ruling, the court also invalidated Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suspension from the Senate, describing it as unlawful and ordering her immediate reinstatement.
The judgment did not tie her return to plenary to any apology directed at the Senate, thereby challenging the upper chamber’s stance that she must first issue a formal apology to lawmakers.
Despite the ruling, Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan has filed an appeal, challenging the Federal High Court’s jurisdiction to punish her over a personal social media post. Her legal team argues that the statement in question did not occur within court proceedings and, therefore, should not be subject to contempt sanctions.
She is urging the Court of Appeal to quash the entire judgment, including the fine and the order for a public apology.
With the CTC now made public, Naija News understands that the document will play a key role in determining the next phase of the standoff between the Kogi senator and the Senate leadership, especially regarding her legislative reinstatement and any pending disciplinary moves.
