The Senate has revealed why it cannot reinstate the suspended Kogi Senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.
The red chamber said it will not recall the lawmaker until it considers the contents of the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the court judgment in the case involving her and the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Sen. Yemi Adaramodu, made this revelation in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Sunday in Abuja.
DAILY POST reports that the Senate had, on March 6, suspended Akpoti-Uduaghan for six months amid the sexual harassment allegation she had made against Akpabio.
The suspension came after a recommendation from the Senate Committee on Ethics, Code of Conduct and Public Petitions, as presented by the Chairman of the Committee, Sen. Neda Imasuen (APC–Edo South).
Natasha later took the matter to a Federal High Court, Abuja Division, where the presiding judge, Justice Binta Nyako, last week ordered the Senate to recall her from suspension.
The court, however, sanctioned Akpoti-Uduaghan for contempt and ordered her to pay a ₦5 million fine.
Adaramodu, who is the Senate spokesperson, said that the upper legislative chamber had applied for the CTC, stressing that until the document was received and studied, the Senate could not take a position on the matter.
“The Senate had applied for the CTC since Monday. We expect to get the document, and once we get it, we are going to comply with the content of the court order.
“But first, the Senate will sit and consider the contents of the CTC, and when we look at the contents, then we shall take a position.
“It was for this that we have Standing Orders. And enforcing the orders means that anybody that contravenes it, the aggregated whole chamber of the Senate can reprimand such a person,’’ he said.
He also expressed regret that even when the court ruling had given vent to that, some people were still saying something else.
Credit: dailypost.ng
