Court stops Senate disciplinary action against Natasha Akpoti

The Federal High Court in Abuja has restrained the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Petitions from proceeding with disciplinary actions against Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.

Justice Obiora Egwuatu issued the order on Tuesday following an ex parte application by Akpoti-Uduaghan’s legal team, which includes Sanusi Musa, M. J. Numa, Y. M. Zakari, B. J. Tabai, Tijanni Jimol, and M. C. Bekee.

The senator, representing Kogi Central, had been summoned before the disciplinary committee after a heated exchange with Senate President Godswill Akpabio during the February 20 plenary.

She had protested her assigned seating arrangement, repeatedly raising a point of order despite being overruled. In response, the Senate referred her case to the ethics committee for review.

On February 28, in an interview with Arise TV, Akpoti-Uduaghan alleged that her troubles in the Senate began after she rejected unwanted advances from Akpabio.

In her application, she urged the court to declare any action taken during the pendency of her suit as “null, void, and of no effect.”

She also sought permission for substituted service of court documents on the defendants, who include the Clerk of the National Assembly, the Senate, the Senate President, and the chairman of the ethics committee.

Granting the interim injunction, Egwuatu ordered the defendants to appear within 72 hours of being served to show cause why a full interlocutory injunction should not be issued against them.

The case was adjourned to March 10 for further proceedings.