A final ruling in the case filed by suspended Kogi Central senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan has been scheduled for June 27 by Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Akpoti-Uduaghan is challenging her suspension from the Senate.
She filed a lawsuit after the Senate, backed by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, suspended her due to allegations of misconduct.
She believed the action was unfair and influenced by bias.
In her case, she included the National Assembly, the Senate, the Senate President, and Senator Neda Imasuem, who chairs the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Code of Conduct, as the defendants.
The case was originally handled by Justice Obiorah Egwuatu, but he stepped down, and it was reassigned to Justice Binta Nyako.
As instructed by the court, Akpoti-Uduaghan’s attorney, Jibrin Okutekpa, informed the court when the hearing resumed on Monday that they had sent in all of the materials they intended to use.
Lawyers for the Senate and the Senate President, Paul Daudu and Ekwo Ejembi, also said they had filed their documents.
However, they pointed out that Akpoti-Uduaghan had gone against a court order.
They accused her of disobeying the court by posting a satirical apology to the Senate President on her Facebook page on March 27 and publishing it in some newspapers.
“The plaintiff had responded to our motion,” the lawyers said, referring to the steps she took after being accused of contempt.
Akpoti-Uduaghan’s other lawyer, Michael Numan, said they had received the motion accusing her of disobeying the court.
He also reminded the judge that they had filed a similar motion earlier, accusing the defendants of disobeying the court.
He said, “The alleged statement credited to the plaintiff had no connection with her,” and insisted that “the alleged contemptuous statement had no nexus with the plaintiff.”
