Senate’s defiance of court order: Twisting facts to sustain illegality

By Okechukwu Nwanguma

The Certified True Copy (CTC) of the Federal High Court judgment delivered by Justice Binta Murtala-Nyako on July 4, 2025, has laid bare a disturbing reality: the leadership of the Nigerian Senate is willfully twisting the court’s ruling in a desperate attempt to justify its vengeful and unlawful suspension of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.

Contrary to misleading public claims, the court never ordered Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan to apologise to the Senate. The judgment was clear: the senator was found to have committed contempt of court, not contempt of the Senate. As such, the apology ordered was to the court, not to the Senate.

This apology—along with a punitive fine of ₦5 million—is to be published in two national dailies and on her Facebook page within seven days, as a means to purge the contempt.

Despite this clarity, the Senate’s spokesman, Senator Adeyemi Adaramodu, falsely claimed that Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan must apologise before the Senate could consider her reinstatement.

This statement is not only inaccurate; it amounts to an act of defiance against the court and an attempt to shift the focus from the Senate’s illegality to an irrelevant condition.

Let it be stated unequivocally: there is no condition in the judgment tying the senator’s recall to the ordered apology. On the contrary, the court affirmed her constitutional right to represent the people of Kogi Central and ordered the Senate to recall her and allow her to resume her legislative duties.

The Senate’s actions demonstrate a troubling pattern—where lawmakers charged with upholding the rule of law instead undermine the judiciary and weaponize legislative power for political vendetta.

It is even more disturbing that this campaign is targeted at a woman who dared to stand firm and challenge institutional abuse.

This is not just about Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan. This is about whether the Nigerian Senate considers itself above the law. It is about whether a judgment of the Federal High Court can be ignored with impunity by an arm of government that should know better.

We call on the Senate to immediately comply with the court’s order without distortion or delay. The Nigerian people are watching. The rule of law must prevail over political arrogance and impunity.