The court, in a judgement by Justice Binta Nyako, described as “excessive”, the six-month suspension that was slammed on the lawmaker by the Senate.

It faulted the provision of Chapter 8 of the Senate Standing Rules as well as section 14 of the Legislative Houses, Powers & Privileges Act, declaring both as overreaching.

The court stressed that the two legislations failed to specify the maximum period that a serving lawmaker could be suspended from office.

According to the court, since lawmakers have a total of 181 days to sit in every legislative circle, the six-month suspension handed to Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan was akin to pushing her away from her responsibilities to her constituents for about 180 days.

It held that though the Senate has the power to punish any of its members who err, such sanction must not be excessive to deprive the constituents of their right to be represented.

Nevertheless, the court held that the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, was not wrong to have denied the plaintiff, who was not in the official seat that was allotted to her, the opportunity to speak during plenary.

Justice Nyako equally dismissed Akpabio’s contention that the court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the suit which he said bordered on an internal affair of the Senate.

Earlier in the ruling, the court awarded million fine against Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan for acting in breach of its order that barred the parties from making public statements about the subject matter of the suit.

It further ordered her to within seven days, publish an apology to it in two national dailies.

Source: Vanguard

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The electoral body made this announcement on its official X handle in  statement signed by its National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun.

The commission maintained that the petitioners failed to gather the requisite number of signatures/thumbprints, which must represent more than one-half of the registered voters in the Kogi Central Senatorial District.

INEC affirmed that petition fell short of 29,146 signatures as only 208,132 signatures were collected as opposed to the needed 237,278 signatures out of the  474,554 registered voters in the district.

In line with the legal requirements, INEC also issued a Public Notice regarding the outcome of the review.

The notice, alongside a summary of the signatures/thumbprints disaggregated by Local Government Areas, is available for public viewing on INEC’s official website and social media platforms.

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This was made known in a statement by the electoral body’s National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information & Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, which stated the missing details have now been provided.

Earlier in the week, Rédíò Afínjú had earlier reported that INEC confirmed that it received the petition to recall Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan but said it did not meet the requirements for the action.

Read Also: INEC faults petition seeking to recall Natasha Akpoti

The electoral body noted that it had sent an official letter to Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan informing her of the receipt of the recall petition while adding that scrutinizing the signatories list to ensure more than half of registered voters signed is the next line of action.

However, the Commission reassured Nigerians that the process will be open and transparent.

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