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As court convicts Natasha, validates Senate’s power to suspend erring members

Published

10 months ago

July 8, 2025

By Ken Harries Esq

Since the suspension of the Senator representing Kogi Central Senatorial District, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, by the Senator Godswill Akpabio-led 10th Senate on March 6, 2025, for gross misconduct, there has been a cacophony of voices and divergent views as to the propriety, constitutionality, and legality of the action. Natasha, on her own, has been globetrotting, preaching the gospel of innocence and alleging victimization and sexual harassment.

Senator Natasha made an underwhelming appearance at the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Women’s Assembly held at the United Nations headquarters in New York, twisting the story of her suspension. She told the women that her suspension was “Political victimization, punishment for speaking against gender-based violence,” and after her allegations of sexual harassment against the Senate President, which is a lie from the pit of hell.

The sexual harassment allegations were just an afterthought and, of course, another plot to discredit the person of the Senate President. She never knew that both the media and the public knew her story, and she could not hoodwink anyone. The suspended and now convicted senator never fathomed that the proceedings of the Senate are public documents and the women at the IPU could access them to confirm her allegations. It never occurred to Natasha that she was dancing naked in the marketplace at the Inter-Parliamentary Union. Surprisingly, to date, the embattled lawmaker has not filed any case or initiated any criminal complaint touching on her much-touted sexual harassment claims.

Buoyed by social media influencers and freelance lawyers, Senator Natasha approached the Federal High Court in Abuja, challenging the powers of the President of the Senate to preside over proceedings of the Senate after she had raised tantrums emboldened by her reliance on Order 10 of the Senates’s standing Order. It was on the strength of the same Order 10 that she insisted she could speak from anywhere in breach of the Rules. But last week, a Federal High Court presided over by Justice Binta Nyako, finally resolved the issue, and left Natasha in the cold.

On the core issue raised in the substantive suit, the court resolved all the questions for determination against the suspended senator. Justice Binta Nyako ruled emphatically that the Nigerian Senate has the constitutional authority to discipline its members for violating its Standing Orders. She affirmed that the action of the Senate President on February 20, 2025, in reallocating Senator Natasha’s seat was lawful and within his administrative powers under Section 6 (2) of the Rules when she attempted to speak from an unallocated seat.

The court further held that in exercising this power, the President of the Senate did not need to consult anyone. A senator is only permitted to address the plenary from the seat formally assigned, and Natasha acted contrary to Section 6 (2) of the Rules when she attempted to speak from an unallocated seat. Her subsequent claim that the newly allocated seat didn’t afford her media visibility was as infantile as it was irrelevant.

The court unequivocally deposed that the referral of Senator Natasha by the Senate plenary to the Senate Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions Committee for disciplinary action was valid and appropriate, arising from her breach of the Senate Standing Orders.

The court also upheld the application filed by Senate President Akpabio bordering on contempt. The court found that the satirical ‘apology’ posted on her official Facebook page on 27th April 2025 was a clear violation of its restraining order made on 4th April 2025, which barred all parties from making public comments on the matter.

Justice Nyako ruled that the publication was contemptuous, deliberately ridiculing both the Senate President and the judicial process. Accordingly, the court imposed a N5 million fine payable to the Federal Government of Nigeria and directed Senator Natasha to publish a public apology within seven days in two national newspapers and on the same Facebook page where the contemptuous publication was made.

This conviction speaks volumes about the integrity deficit of the suspended senator, as her conduct has fallen short of what is expected of a senator of the Federal Republic. This has called into question her psychological acuity and ability to operate in a sane and lawful environment. In other words, the judgement of the court has exposed the convicted senator’s inability to conform to constituted authority or abide by simple rules and regulations. She was moved from a seat, and she refused to comply with the directive of the Senate President, whom she knew very well, had the power to preside over the Senate.

Again, Natasha was referred to the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions for unruly behaviour. She ignored the invitation to appear before the committee and defend herself, but rather chose to go to the social media court to present her case. But when she was sanctioned and suspended, she ran to the court for reprieve. Still being recalcitrant, she could not obey the simple directives of the court to cease further comments on the matter until it was determined. Natasha went to town behaving like a secondary school girl who had just been handed a new phone and proceeded to publish contemptuous material.

It is unfortunate that even being a lawyer and a lawmaker at the highest level, Senator Natasha has exuded incredible ignorance or faint understanding of the Nigerian Constitution, the principle of Separation of Powers and the Standing Orders and Rules of the Senate. Perhaps with this declaration by the court, she will take time to reflect on the provisions of sections 4, 5, 6, 60 and 101 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (As amended), as well as Section 6 (2) of the Standing Orders and Rules of the Senate.

The parliament is a sacred environment for mature minds and not a zoo or a playground for developing ‘content’. According to Yuval Noah Harari, an Israeli historian, philosopher, and author of the bestselling books “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind”, “Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow”, and “21 Lessons for the 21st Century”, “If you take 10,000 chimpanzees and cram them together into Wembley Stadium or the House of Parliament, you will get chaos. But if you take 10,000 people who have never met before, they can cooperate and create amazing things”. The Senate is an amazing institution constituted by reform-minded, stable and focused statesmen and shall never be a theatre of the absurd.

* Ken Harries Esq is an Abuja-based development communication Strategist.

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Presidency: Nigeria needs me now! – Makinde *They’ve pushed us to the wall

Published

51 minutes ago

May 14, 2026

Whirlwindnews

Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, Governor of Oyo State, on Thursday, finally threw his hats into the ring by declaring his intention to run for president in 2027, with a message – history beckons.

The governor, whose ambition has been a matter of speculations for months now and who had teamed up with forces angling to force President Bola Tinubu, out of power, told a teeming crowd in Ibadan on Thursday that time had come to reset Nigeria.

At a mega-rally to announce the alliance between the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), and the Allied Peoples’ Movement, (APM), Makinde, expressed worry over the dwindling fortunes of Nigerians, vowing to engage Nigerians to end the drift.

Hear him: “Without a multi-party system, there is no democracy. Where is our multi-party? Where do we go from here? We have been pushed to the wall.

“They calculated and self-opposition cannot unite but I am here to say that the opposition is the everyday Nigerian. This is the time for all us to ensure Nigeria works for us. This is the time to confront it fears. It is time to engage as citizens and not spectators.

“For the opposition political parties, this is the time to unite and work in unity and give our nation the much reset it needs. The time to reset Nigeria is now. Ibadan is the city of warriors. The first grand alliance is formed. The PDP and APM is formed. This handshake will allow us to field candidates from presidency to state Assembly. And so, I declare my candidacy for office of the president of Nigeria.”

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I saw hell in the hands of EFCC – UUTH doctor *I’m still traumatised

Published

1 hour ago

May 14, 2026

Whirlwindnews

Eyo Ekpe, a professor of cardiothoracic surgery at the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital (UUTH), on Wednesday, gave a detailed account on how operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) manhandled him on Monday.

He told reporters that he was at sea on why he should fall victim to the assault against his person and eventually arrested given that was not right person directly involved in the information the agency sought.

Some operatives of the EFCC who invaded the hospital, had whisked Ekpe away after firing teargas to scare away the workers, patients and visitors to the hospital, following what appeared like a fracas the ensued over what it claimed was a routine duty in the facility.

Ekpe, Deputy Chairman of the hospital’s Medical Advisory Committee (MAC), described how an operative had first entered his office to make inquiries on why the hospital was yet to give a response to an EFCC inquiry over a medical report linked to a suspect facing trial.

He detailed how he briefed the operative that the said response was being prepared and even went ahead to show him the draft of a letter in that regard, which needed to go through the gamut of official endorsement before being released.

Hear him: “The head of that internal medicine department looked at the report and also discovered that the name of the doctor that signed the report is not a member of staff of that department.

“I had prepared prepared a response to the EFCC on Monday, May 11, 2026, based on the findings. When the EFCC operative visited my office the next morning to collect the document, I told him that the response was ready in draft. I even showed him the draft, but told him that the document still needed approval from the Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the hospital before it could be officially signed and released.

“He pretended to have accepted that. He left, but later later returned with another armed operative and informed me that I was under arrest. I asked him why. I was not the one that issued the medical report. My name is not on the medical report. The report was not issued from my unit.

“But he said I would get the answer when I get to their office. I then asked him to at least wait for my staff member who I sent on an errand before joining them. But they refused.

“They started pushing me. They dragged me out of the office. Then I began to cry while they were dragging me. They had warned me not to speak. They had taken my phone. My cry as they were dragging me, attracted the workers to the scene, who enquired what was going on, but because they ordered me not to speak, I couldn’t say anything. They had their guns.

The members of staff of the hospital initially blocked them from taking me away. They then made a call. After that I saw many masked and armed men came violently, broke the protector, threatening the people that were around and people ran away.

“They picked some staff that were still by me. they dragged me and other staff, five of us into their van downstairs. By that time they discovered that the gate of the hospital were locked. So, they drove towards the gate and packed and the commotion continued. We were inside the van.

“I was so emotionally and psychologically traumatised that I couldn’t even look out of the vehicle to see what was happening outside. But I know that teargas and live bullets were shot. That’s all I can say for now.”

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We raised alarm over Malami’s huge transactions, bank tells court

Published

2 hours ago

May 14, 2026

Whirlwindnews

Joyce Abdulmalik, of the Federal High Court, Abuja, heard on Wednesday, how Zenith Bank raised alarm over the huge transaction in one of its branches by Abubakar Malami, former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice (AGF-MoJ).

The bank said it immediately filed a Suspicious Transaction Report (STR) in respect to the transactions, during its appearance in the ongoing trial of Malami, his wife, and son over allegation of massive looting of funds belonging to the Federal Government during his tenure.

Mashelia Bata, a compliance officer with the bank, who appeared as witness in the case, where Malami, et al, are facing a 16-count charge bordering on alleged money laundering to the tune of N8.7 billion, to which they pleaded not guilty, gave the testimony while being questioned on the bank’s roles in the matter.

Details of the testimony conveyed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), stated how the compliance officer who was cross-examined by Adebayo Adedeji, lawyer to the defendants admitted that the deposits in the account statements complied with the guidelines of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Arguments had stretched when Adedeji, opposed Jibrin Okutepa (SAN), lawyer to the EFCC, who had asked the witness to explain the meaning of a suspicious transaction report, stressing that there was no ambiguity in the term.

However, Okutepa, in response, maintained that section 215(3) of the Evidence Act did not preclude him from re-examining the witness while urging the court to allow the question for proper explanation.

After Abdulmalik, agreed and overruled Adedeji, the witness told the court that banks were required to alert the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) about fund deposits coming in a repetitive pattern, adding: “Any deposition of funds seen in a pattern or repetitive, you must escalate it to the NFIU.”

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