In a dramatic turn of events, the Nigerian Senate on Thursday, July 10, removed Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan as Chairman of its Committee on Diaspora and Non-Governmental Organisations, intensifying the ongoing power struggle between the lawmaker and the Senate leadership.

 

This development comes less than a week after the Federal High Court in Abuja declared her six-month suspension unconstitutional and ordered her immediate reinstatement.

 

Akpoti-Uduaghan, who represents Kogi Central, was suspended in March following a rowdy session during which she resisted a forced change of seat. The situation spiraled when she later accused Senate President Godswill Akpabio of sexual harassment during a live television interview.

 

Senate President Akpabio announced her removal at the close of Thursday’s plenary, appointing Senator Aniekan Bassey of Akwa Ibom as her replacement.

 

The move came just days after Akpoti-Uduaghan expressed her readiness to return to the Senate chambers, citing the July 4 judgment of Justice Binta Nyako, who ruled that her suspension was excessive and lacked constitutional grounding.

 

“We shall resume in the Senate on Tuesday by the grace of God,” she said in a video shared on social media, thanking supporters and calling the court ruling a victory for democracy.

 

In her judgment, Justice Nyako affirmed that the suspension infringed on the rights of Kogi Central constituents to representation. She ruled that the disciplinary action—ostensibly over a seating dispute—was procedurally flawed and failed to meet constitutional standards.

 

“Lawmakers are expected to sit for at least 181 days in a legislative year,” she noted. “Indefinite or excessive suspensions undermine representative democracy.”

 

However, the court also found Akpoti-Uduaghan guilty of contempt of court for violating an injunction that barred her from commenting on the case publicly. Her Facebook post, described as a “satirical apology” to Senate President Akpabio, was deemed a breach of the order. She was fined N5 million and directed to publish a formal apology in two national newspapers and on her Facebook page within seven days.

 

Justice Nyako further criticized the Senate’s disciplinary procedures, urging the National Assembly to revise its internal rules to ensure lawmakers receive fair hearings in line with constitutional protections.

 

Akpoti-Uduaghan’s removal from her committee chairmanship suggests that her legal victory may not immediately translate into full political restoration, as tensions between her and the Senate leadership appear far from resolved.