A communications and strategy consultant to Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Ken Okolugbo, has insisted that the lawmaker representing Kogi Central senatorial district, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, cannot resume her legislative duties without complying with laid-down procedures and offering an apology to the Senate for her past conduct.
Speaking on Arise News on Sunday, Okolugbo argued that the recent court pronouncement favouring Senator Natasha was not legally binding, but rather an obiter dictum, a judicial remark made in passing without enforceable effect.
Okolugbo dismissed reports that the court ruling immediately reinstated the embattled senator. He stressed that even if the ruling were binding, Natasha’s return to the red chamber would still require clearance through the Clerk of the National Assembly and the Senate leadership.
“She said she was going to resume last Tuesday. Now she has seen the CTC. Her lawyers have now written to say she’s resuming on Tuesday. She’s not going to be able to resume on Tuesday, there’s a process,” he said.
According to him, “The Senate will have to receive it through the Clerk of the National Assembly, who will now send to the Senate leadership. The Senate leadership will evaluate, take a decision, and alert the sergeants at arms. It’s a process.”
Okolugbo also raised concerns about Natasha’s decision to appeal the ₦5 million contempt fine imposed by the court, saying she acted prematurely without considering the possibility of a cross-appeal by the Senate.
He said, “While it is within her right to appeal the issue of contempt… why is she not even waiting for the Senate to study it and come up with their own position?
“You don’t cherry-pick the aspects you’re going to appeal and then expect an obiter dictum to be enforced. It’s never done in law.”
The Akpabio aide further argued that Natasha had not fulfilled the court’s conditions, which included deleting her social media posts and offering a genuine apology to both the court and the Senate President.
“The apology is not to the court alone. What the Senate President asked was that she should delete her Facebook post, apologise to him, and apologise to the court,” Okolugbo said.
He claimed Natasha had posted a satirical apology, which was later deleted, falling short of the expectations laid out by the court.
“You don’t apologise on the air. That apology was supposed to be to the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, and also to the court,” he added.
