The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Friday reserved judgment in the appeal and cross-appeal filed by Sen. Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan and Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
Akpoti-Uduaghan is fighting a lower court judgment in her petition to halt the Senate’s probe into her alleged misbehavior.
A three-member panel of appellate court justices withheld judgment after attorneys for the parties adopted their processes and argued their cases for and against the appeals.
The Senate President had petitioned the Court of Appeal to dispute the Federal High Court decision that nullified the suspension of Kogi Central Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan.
Akpabio’s legal team had disputed the lower court’s jurisdiction, claiming that the subject concerned the National Assembly’s internal affairs and hence is immune to judicial review under Section 251 of the 1999 Constitution.
The lower court ruled that the senator’s six-month suspension was unlawful and harsh and violated the right of her constituents to representation.
Mr. Akpabio, through his lead counsel, Kehinde Ogunwumiju, SAN, filed a notice of cross-appeal on July 11, asking the appellate court to overturn the ruling, characterizing it as erroneous and a grievous miscarriage of justice.
In the 11-ground appeal, he blamed the trial court for dismissing his preliminary objection and making instructions that, he claimed, interfered with legally protected legislative proceedings.
He went on to explain that topics relating to member suspension, remarks made during plenary, and Senate resolutions lie clearly within the jurisdiction of the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act and cannot be subjected to external adjudication.
The Senate President’s cross-appeal came barely two days after Akpoti-Uduaghan filed an appeal with the Court of Appeal challenging the N5 million fine levied on her by the same court.
The fine was part of a contempt finding delivered by the trial court’s judge, Justice Binta Nyako, who found the senator guilty of civil contempt for posting a satirical Facebook post while her lawsuit against the Senate was still pending.
In her six-ground appeal, Akpoti-Uduaghan claimed that the contempt decision violated her fundamental rights and that the fine was legally baseless.
The appeals, CA/ABJ/CJ/739/2025, CA/ABJ/CJ/1208/2025, and CA/ABJ/CJ/739/2025CA/A//2025, resulted from Akpoti-Uduaghan’s rights action, FHC/ABJ/CS/384/2025, which sought to prevent the Senate from examining her.
At the hearing on Friday, Akpabio, through his counsel, Eko Ejembi Eko, SAN, dropped one of the cross appeals, citing an event that had occurred since Akpoti-Uduaghan had started her duties in the Senate, and it was rejected.
