Senator Natasha: Appeal Court upholds Senate's powers to discipline erring members

A three-member panel of the appellate court, in a judgment on Monday, held that the Senate did not violate Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan's right by reallocating her seat, preventing to speak from the seat not allocated to her, and referring her to its Ethics Committee for investigation for misconduct.

As against her claim that she was not issued prior notice before her seat was relocated, the court said no provision of the Senate Rules requires the Senate President to notify members in advance before relocating their seats.

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The court, in the judgment on the appeal by Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan, held that her right was not violated, adding that her right was never activated, having failed to place herself in the right place where she could have exercised the said right.

It further held that the observation by the trial court that the Senate should reconsider the length of her suspension was a mere opinion of the trial judge, because Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan did not formally present the issue of her suspension before the court and did not challenge it as required.

The appellate court struck out the suit she filed before the trial court on the grounds that the court lacked jurisdiction to entertain a suit that queried the proceedings of the Senate, which did not violate the Constitution or any extant laws.

The Appeal Court, however, voided Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan's conviction for contempt and set aside the N5million fine imposed on her on the grounds that the contempt proceeding was not properly conducted.

Details shortly…