The suspended senator representing Kogi Central, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, has disclosed her intention to approach the appellate court to seek clarification on the legal impasse between her and the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.
Speaking to journalists in Abuja on Tuesday after security personnel denied her entry into the National Assembly Complex, Akpoti-Uduaghan described her suspension as unjust and procedurally defective.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the senator defied a heavy security blockade, arriving at the complex on foot from the MOPOL gate, accompanied by a crowd of supporters and activists, including Aisha Yesufu.
She explained that her vehicle was parked outside the premises due to the blockade, and despite the rain, she remained resolute in contesting her suspension.
“From the onset, the suspension was fraudulent. The document recommending my suspension was not attested to by committee members; it was merely a photocopy of an attendance sheet presented as their signatures,” she alleged.
She further clarified reports suggesting that she could not resume due to an appeal by the Senate, stating:
“There is no reason whatsoever, contrary to publications I read yesterday, that I should not resume today because the Senate has appealed my suspension judgment. That’s incorrect. What I appealed is the contempt ruling, which is separate. The judgment came in two parts – one addressing the contempt charge based on a satirical apology I posted on Facebook, which the judge deemed contemptuous.
“However, before Justice Binta Nyako, the matter was not about sexual harassment but my suspension,” she explained.
Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan noted that while she could choose to return home, she was aware that the National Assembly would proceed on a two-month recess from Wednesday.
“If we decide to turn our backs and go home, we are not ignorant of the fact that the National Assembly will likely go on recess tomorrow for two months, resuming in the last week of September. This effectively means I would have served the entire six-month suspension.
“But as of now, I am no longer suspended. It is important to reiterate that from the beginning, the suspension was fraudulent,” she insisted.
(NAN)
