Michael Numa, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and counsel
to Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, the Kogi central senator, has asked Yahaya
Danzaria, acting clerk of the national assembly, to facilitate her resumption
or face legal action.
Akpoti-Uduaghan had, in a letter dated August 28, 2025,
notified the clerk of her intention to resume on September 4, the date she said
marked the end of her six-month suspension.
On Tuesday, the national assembly prevented Akpoti-Uduaghan
from resuming legislative duties, insisting that her suspension is still a
subject of litigation.
In a letter dated September 10, Numa said the clerk’s claim
that her resumption is blocked by sub judice was a “misuse of the rule”.
He said the position was either “ill-advised or deliberately
contrived to deprive our client of the constitutional mandate freely bestowed
upon her by the constituents of Kogi Central Senatorial District”.
The lawyer argued that the constitution does not empower the
clerk or the senate to extinguish the sovereign will of the people by
administrative action.
“It is imperative to restate that our client’s right to
resume her parliamentary duties, after the expiration of her fixed-term
suspension, is rooted in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
1999 (as amended) and cannot be abridged by administrative fiat or internal
senate manoeuvrings,” the letter reads.
He recalled that in March, Akpoti-Uduaghan secured a federal
high court order restraining the senate from proceeding with disciplinary
action against her.
Numa claimed Binta Nyako of the federal high court later
declared the suspension unlawful and unconstitutional, and directed her recall.
The lawyer described the clerk’s alleged resistance as part
of a “disturbing pattern of judicial defiance” that undermines the authority of
the courts.
He noted that Akpoti-Uduaghan’s six-month suspension expired
on September 6, 2025, and that the senate has no power to extend or renew the
punishment.
“As clerk of the national assembly, you are not an elected
member of the senate. Your functions are purely ministerial: to record,
transmit, and implement decisions duly made by the Senate or directed by the
courts,” he added.
“Our demand is that you immediately facilitate Senator
Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s resumption of her legislative duties without further
obstruction.”
Numa warned that if the clerk fails to comply by September
15, he would initiate contempt proceedings and other legal actions against him
in his personal and official capacity.
In February, Akpoti-Uduaghan and Godswill Akpabio, the
senate president, had a heated exchange over a change in seating arrangements.
The upper legislative chamber later suspended the senator
for “gross misconduct”.
On July 22, all gates to the national assembly complex were
locked to prevent Akpoti-Uduaghan from entering the premises.
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