Africa-Press – Nigeria. The Court of Appeal in Abuja has reserved judgment in the appeal and cross-appeal filed by Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan and Senate President Godswill Akpabio over the Federal High Court’s judgment on the former’s suit that sought to stop the Senate’s investigation into her alleged misconduct.
A three-member panel of justices of the appellate court reserved the judgment after counsel for the parties adopted their processes and argued their cases for and against the appeals.
The Senate President had approached the Court of Appeal to challenge the Federal High Court’s judgment that invalidated the suspension of Kogi Central Senator, Mrs. Akpoti-Uduaghan.
Akpabio’s legal team challenged the jurisdiction of the lower court, arguing that the matter bordered on the internal affairs of the National Assembly and is therefore insulated from judicial review under Section 251 of the 1999 Constitution.
The lower court had declared her six-month suspension unconstitutional, excessive, and a violation of her constituents’ right to representation.
In a notice of cross-appeal dated July 11, Akpabio, through his lead counsel, Kehinde Ogunwumiju, SAN, asked the appellate court to nullify the judgment, describing it as erroneous and a gross miscarriage of justice.
In the 11-ground appeal, he faulted the trial court for dismissing his preliminary objection and for issuing orders that, according to him, interfere with parliamentary procedures protected by law.
He further argued that matters relating to the suspension of members, utterances made during plenary, and resolutions of the Senate fall within the protective scope of the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act and cannot be subjected to external adjudication.
The cross-appeal by the Senate President came just two days after Akpoti-Uduaghan filed an appeal at the Court of Appeal to challenge the N5 million fine imposed on her by the same court.
The fine was part of a contempt ruling issued by the trial court judge, Justice Binta Nyako, who found the senator guilty of civil contempt over a satirical Facebook post made while her case against the Senate was still ongoing.
In her six-ground appeal, Akpoti-Uduaghan described the contempt ruling as a violation of her fundamental rights and argued that the fine was legally unfounded.
The appeals, marked: CA/ABJ/CJ/739/2025; CA/ABJ/CJ/1208/2025; and CA/ABJ/CJ/739/2025CA/A//2025, all stem from the rights suit filed by Akpoti-Uduaghan with number FHC/ABJ/CS/384/2025, to stop the Senate from investigating her.
At the hearing on Friday, Akpabio, through his lawyer, Eko Ejembi Eko, SAN, withdrew one of the cross-appeals, having been overtaken by events, since Akpoti-Uduaghan had since resumed her duties in the Senate, and it was dismissed.
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