The Federal High Court in Abuja has stopped the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Petitions from conducting disciplinary proceedings against Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.
The presiding judge, Obiora Egwuatu, gave the order on Tuesday following an ex parte application filed by counsels to Akpoti-Uduaghan, the senator representing Kogi central.
Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan had been invited to appear before the senate’s disciplinary committee following an altercation with Senate President Godswill Akpabio on February 20.
The senator had disrupted the plenary by rejecting her assigned seat, defying Akpabio’s order and repeatedly raising a point of order despite being overruled.
Subsequently, the senate referred Akpoti-Uduaghan to the committee on ethics, privileges, and public petitions for disciplinary review.
On February 28, in an interview on Arise TV, the Kogi senator alleged that her trouble in the senate began after she rejected sexual advances from the senate president.
Subsequent events include the senator dragging the Senate President to court and the wife of the senate primus inter pares, Unoma Akpabio slamming N350 billion defamation and infringement of fundamental human rights suits against the Kogi Central senator, in what many are viewing as a ‘roforofo’ fight.
Various groups, individuals have taken sides with the characters involved inthe sexual harassment saga, with the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) being the latest to throw their hats into the ring.
The two bodies are opposing the calls for the senate leader’s resignation after a prominent Northern group, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) joined the ‘Akpabio must go’ gang.
While CAN described the dispute as “shameful and unfortunate” and called for national elders to mediate to protect the integrity of the National Assembly, PANDEF has accused the ACF of exploiting the allegations to advance a political agenda aimed at discrediting Southern leaders and restoring power to Northern Nigeria in 2027.
During a media engagement in Kaduna, CAN, speaking through its chairman for the 19 Northern states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Rev. Joseph Hayab, said, “There is a need for elders to step in. Akpabio and Natasha have people they respect and highly regard. Members of the National Assembly must take responsibility in handling this matter.”
The religious body strongly opposed demands for Akpabio’s resignation, labeling them premature and unjustified, as no concrete evidence had been established against him.
“Any group calling for Akpabio’s resignation should desist, as no one has been proven guilty in this matter. Taking sides will only escalate tensions. Allegations of sexual harassment must be treated with seriousness, but also with fairness and sobriety,” CAN added.
Meanwhile, PANDEF National Publicity Secretary, Dr. Obiuwevbi Ominimini, In a statement on Tuesday, alleged that the ACF’s claims of bias against Northern senators were an attempt to incite regional tensions and undermine President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
“The press release by the ACF is nothing but a political attack on Southern Nigeria. For the ACF to suggest that only northerners are being suspended and to call on northern senators to rally around their own is a direct threat to national unity,” Ominimini said.
He further recalled that in the 8th Assembly, a southern senator was suspended under a northern Senate President, yet PANDEF did not interfere in the affairs of the National Assembly.
“The Senate is governed by rules and regulations. Suspensions and disciplinary actions have always been part of legislative proceedings. Anyone who feels aggrieved can seek legal redress. What ACF has done is an open call for division and a threat to the stability of Nigeria,” PANDEF stated.
