“It’s so foggy, I can’t see”. Legendary columnist Allah De submitted in his column, marking a return to punditry in The Guardian in 1983. The social media scene has been even murkier in the last two months following the riot of activities, from the political to the social.
The Senate Gate went international on Tuesday. Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan went beyond the solidarity rallies by persons for Senate President Godswill Akpabio and those for Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan. She registered a surprise appearance and protest at the New York meeting of the International Parliamentary Union. After her presentation, the media reported to be over five minutes, and the IPU promised to hear from the other side, the Senate.
Meanwhile, the Senate remained resolute, asserting it would not reconsider its position on the case. This stance counters the escalating criticism from informed commentators such as Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe, a former Senator and Minister of Works, and rights lawyer Femi Falana. Falana circulated a paper indicating that in the six instances when the Senate suspended its members, it ultimately conceded in court that it made the wrong decision.
Oby Ezekwesili
@obyezeks
*Letter to the Nigerian Senate* The Petition of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan Must Be Independently Investigated and Openly Discussed in a Public Hearing that the Accused Does Not Preside. Two Demands: 1. Swiftly Appoint an Independent Investigator on the Petition of Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan. Cc:
@icpcnigeria
Elevate the status of the proceedings on Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan by the Ethics and Privileges Committee into a Public Hearing for full transparency and disclosure. Our National Assembly
@nassnigeria
which comprises the
@NGRSenate
and
@HouseNGR
belongs to the Nigerian People and not to politicians of any stripe and status. This is why the National Assembly is called a Public Institution. No individual or collection of individuals and their groups can capture a Public Institution and use it to their benefit or advantage. Whenever a situation such as the one involving Senators
@NatashaAkpoti
and
@Senator_Akpabio
The lawmakers must understand that the Nigerian public wants transparency and full disclosure. Dismissing a serious accusation against the Senate President like the Senators irresponsibly did yesterday is a Democratic Aberration. It cannot stand. Never. What happened yesterday in the Senate Chamber, where a Senate President presided over a grave matter involving him, was farcical and a blot on our Democracy. It is in our Public Interest that Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan’s petition be urgently given the seriousness it deserves to defend the institutional integrity of our Senate. Act correctly now,
@NGRSenate
How the courts stopped the illegal suspension of Nigerian legislators – Femi Falana
In 2010, our law firm represented Honourable Dino Melaye and ten other legislators who were suspended for accusing the Dimeji Bankole-led House of Representatives of engaging in corruption. The Federal High Court declared the suspension illegal and unconstitutional, ordering the payment of their withheld salaries and allowances.
Read also: IPU to invite Akpabio as Natasha Akpoti takes case to UN
In 2012, our law firm handled the case of Honourable Rifkatu Danna, the only female member of the 31-member Bauchi State House of Assembly. Danna was suspended in June 2012 for allegedly making uncomplimentary remarks when she challenged the lawmakers’ decision to approve the relocation of the headquarters of Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area of Bauchi State. However, the Bauchi State High Court declared her suspension illegal and ordered the Bauchi State House of Assembly to reinstate her and pay her withheld salaries and allowances.
In 2017, the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal filed against the judgment of the Bauchi State High Court regarding the illegal suspension of Honourable Rifkatu Danna. The Court upheld our submission to the effect that the suspension of the legislator constituted a breach of the right of the Bogoro Constituency to be represented by her in the state house of assembly. The Court equally held that the decision of the House to withhold the salaries and allowances of the legislator was illegal as she was not an employee but an elected member of the Bauchi State House of Assembly.
In 2018, our law firm also handled the case of Honourable Abdulmumin Jibrin, a member of the House of Representatives who was suspended for 180 days for accusing the Yakubu Dogara-led House of padding the 2016 national budget. The Federal High Court nullified the suspension and ordered the payment of the legislator’s withheld salaries and allowances.
The Federal High Court annulled Senator Ali Ndume’s 2017 suspension by the Bukola Saraki-led Senate based on the case of the Speaker, Bauchi State House of Assembly v Honourable Rifkatu Danna (2017) 49 WRN 82, which is the locus classicus on the subject matter. The case was filed on behalf of the Senator by his lawyer, Marcel Oru Esq.
In the same vein, the Federal High Court declared Senator Ovie Omo-Agege’s 2020 suspension illegal and unconstitutional. Edward Omaga, Esq., filed the case on behalf of the Senator.
Sometime in 2020, the Jigawa State House of Assembly suspended a lawmaker, Hon. Sani Iyaku, over alleged criticism of the state governor, Alhaji Muhammad Abubakar Badaru, who was on a visit to Hadejia town for a wedding ceremony. Honourable Iyaku challenged his suspension in the Jigawa State High Court. The trial Judge, Justice Ahmed, ruled that the action of the Assembly did not comply with order 15 rule 74 (2)(c) and (3) a, b of the state House of Assembly standing orders 2017 and therefore declared the suspension illegal, inappropriate, null and void. The court also directed that the defendant be paid his three months of withheld allowances, amounting to N3 million.
On 18 November 2020, the Court of Appeal, sitting in Akure, Ondo State, dismissed the motion for a stay of execution filed by the state House of Assembly against the High Court’s judgment reinstating the three suspended members of the state assembly. The Presiding Judge, Justice Folayemi Omoleye, queried the appellants for bringing a frivolous appeal before the court and directed them to be reinstated immediately to resume their legislative duties.
On 13 August 2024, the same court reinstated Honourable Iroju Ogundeji as the Deputy Speaker of the State House of Assembly. In a unanimous ruling, Justices Oyebisi Folayemi Omoleye, Frederick Oziakpono-Oho, and Yusuf Alhaji Bashir affirmed the decision made by Justice Akintan Osadebey, which reinstated the two-term legislator representing the Odigbo state constituency.
In the past five years, the High Court in Lokoja, Kogi State, and the National Industrial Court have nullified the illegal suspension of members of the Houses of Assembly of Kogi and Edo State, respectively.
In March 2024, the Godswill Akpabio-led Senate suspended Senator Abdul Ningi (PDP; Bauchi) for three months for claiming that Nigeria’s 2024 budget was padded. The Senator directed our law firm to contest the suspension in the Federal High Court. We wrote to the Senate’s leadership to reconsider the suspension due to its illegality. While we were preparing to challenge the suspension in the Federal High Court, the Senate recalled Senator Ningi and paid his withheld salaries and allowances.
Considering the definitive pronouncements of several High Courts and the Court of Appeal regarding the illegality of suspending elected members of legislative houses in Nigeria, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suspension represents a peak of legislative recklessness. The suspension should be promptly lifted. Since the Federal High Court had restrained the Senate Ethics Committee from addressing the complaint against the embattled Senator pending the determination of the motion on notice, the Senate should have paused actions in accordance with the rule of law.
Finally, the official impunity of suspending legislators at the whims and caprices of federal and state legislative house leaders must not continue in Nigeria.
Femi Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), writes from Lagos.
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