𝐒𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐚 𝐅𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐀𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐒𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐀𝐤𝐩𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐨

In a dramatic turn of events, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan has filed contempt charges against Senate President Godswill Akpabio, the Clerk of the National Assembly, and Senator Neda Imasuen, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Code of Conduct. The charges stem from Akpoti-Uduaghan’s six-month suspension without pay from the Senate, which she claims is a direct disregard for a court order.

On March 4, Justice Obiora Egwuatu of the Federal High Court in Abuja issued an interim injunction restraining the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Code of Conduct from investigating Akpoti-Uduaghan for alleged misconduct. Despite being served with the court order on March 5, the Senate proceeded with her suspension just two days later.

Akpoti-Uduaghan argues that her suspension is a wilful disobedience to the subsisting court order. According to Form 48, the defendants “deliberately and contumaciously disregarded” the court’s directive and “proceeded with acts in flagrant defiance of the authority of the court.”

The court has warned that defying the subsisting order renders Akpabio, Imasuen, and the Clerk of the National Assembly liable for contempt of court, which could result in their committal to prison. The contempt charge is the latest development in the ongoing saga between Akpoti-Uduaghan and the Senate leadership.