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Natasha loses again! Senate’s suspension in order – appeal court
For the second time in her pursuit for the quashing of the suspension handed her by the Senate on March 6, 2025 came to naught on Monday, with the Court of Appeal affirming the judgement of the Federal High Court, Abuja on the matter.
The appellate court held that the court below was right in holding that the suspension of the Senator representing Kogi Central at the National Assembly was withing its rights.
Emphasising the rights of the Senate to discipline any erring member, the court held that in the instant case, Uduaghan-Akpoti’s fundamental right was never breached as she alleged, adding that the Senate had the power to invoke disciplinary action to ensure orderliness in the conduct of Senate’s proceedings.
Justice Abba Bello Mohammed who read the the lead judgement corroborated by his colleagues, dismissed the grounds on which the Senator based her appeal, the court agreed for the Senate’s application on the provision of Section 66(4) of its standing rules, to hand down the suspension.
Also agreeing that the behaviour of the Senator on February 20, 2025, when she refused to take the seat allocated to her, but instead, displayed agitation against its leadership was out of place, the court said that, the claim of the Senator that she was not given prior notice on the change of seat was unattainable because there was no provision for prior notification.
Mohammed in the unanimous judgement, also held that the Federal High Court, in the first instance ought to have declined jurisdiction in entertaining the suit having discovered that the Senate acted in line with the provision that permits it to suspend any erring member.
He added that upon been told the re-allocation of seat, the Senator ought to have moved to the new seat and having declined to do so, the Senate was right to enforce order six rule two following her persistent refusal to obey the order.
To worsen the situation, the appellate court observed Akpoti-Uduaghan’s refusal to appear before the Senate Committee on Ethics, Petition and Privileges did not help her matter, while also dismissing her claim that her suspension was carried out in violation of an order by Justice Obiora Egwuatu.
In this regard, the upper court, held that since Egwuatu recused himself and the matter started afresh by Justice Binta Nyako, the previous orders were no longer subsisting.
But it was not all woes, as the court, also faulted the contempt charge against the Senator and the N5 million fine imposed on her by Nyako, saying the failure by the trial court to serve forms 48 and 49 on her was fatal and therefore went ahead to set both punishments aside.
The echoes of the drums rolled out to celebrate the rescue of the 44 teachers and students, kidnapped from some schools in Oyo State, after 56 days in the bush, would surely be disrupted abruptly, with the divergent echoes of a fresh abduction, this time coming from Kogi State.
Reports indicate that the gunmen, struck on Tuesday at the Government Secondary School, Odo-Ekina, in Dekina Local Government Area of the state, abducting four students, the school principal and a National Examinations Council (NECO) ad hoc staff member.
Authorities of the Kogi State Police Command, who immediately unleashed their operatives in hot pursuit of the abductors, said the attack occurred at about 5:25 p.m. while the students were writing their NECO examination.
Saliu Oyiza Afusat, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) and spokesman of the command, said a combined team of police personnel and other security agencies has launched a search-and-rescue operation following the incident.
Informing that one of the students was actually rescued immediately, she said efforts were ongoing to secure the release of the remaining victims and apprehend the attackers, adding that Naziru Bello Kankarofi, the state Commissioner of Police, alongside the Brigade Commander and the State Security Adviser to the Governor, Commodore Jerry Omodara (Rtd), were already on the way to the scene for an on-the-spot assessment.
Oil prices are expected to go down now with the announcement of Donald Trump, US President that he will no longer impose a 20 percent “safe passage” fee on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
The POTUS, hinged his reversal of the decision on the intervention from some Gulf countries, who pleaded with him not to toe the line due to the massive economic impact the decision would make on the region.
Indeed, oil prices had shot up immediately Trump announced the new levy on Monday while declaring the US ‘the guardians of the Hormuz strait,’ a measure which he said was to pay for the cost of guarding the volatile area in order keep supply of oil flowing.
Reports said that Gulf allies of the US worked frantically to get Trump on the phone in time to talk him out of the idea altogether, while a flurry of appeals came from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar.
In response, the POTUS, posting on his Truth Social platform, wrote: “Based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership, I have decided to replace the 20% United States Reimbursement Fee with Trade and Investment Deals that the various Gulf States will be making into the United States.”
Trump, who said the investments would be “MASSIVE but, at the same time, extraordinarily good for them, and their future,” added that the deals would see factories, plants, and equipment pour into the US at “Historic levels.”
The Gulf nations have committed to invest trillions of dollars in the US, though it remains unclear how much of that they will actually spend over the next several years.
Meanwhile, the US continues to bomb Iran in what appears to be a resumption of active conflict between both countries, despite an ongoing roadmap to end the conflict.
Reports say operatives of the Osun State Police Command, and those of the Department of State Services (DSS) had tracking the trail of Adeniyi Adeyemi, controversial Director General of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), for weeks, before he was eventually pulled out of his hole on Tuesday.
However, the duo, were said to have pulled back after failing to track him through his mobile phones, which he had reportedly switched off for about two days, making it difficult to locate him, leaving the stage for the members of the Police Intelligence Response Team (PI-RT) led by Moses Lohor, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP).
Lohor, said to have previously served as the Commander of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad of Osun State, and reported to have been involved in high-profile security operations and controversies, after taken over fielded his men to pick up signals from their well-oiled signal networks.
Regarded by many Osun residents as one of the key security officers who contributed significantly to the peace and stability enjoyed in Ilesa and other parts of the state during his tenure, he was said to have relied on his contacts before his transfer out of the state, said to have raised concerns from the public about the security situation he would be leaving behind.
His exit from the state was said to be hinged on an incident in 2024, in which he allegedly shot one Iyanda Alowonle, then Chairman of Osun State Motor Transport System, in the stomach at the police station in the state prompting an order for his arrest by then Inspector General of Police (IGP).
His effort was said to have paid off when he successfully tracked down the controversial PFIPC, boss, who was seen on Tuesday evening, in a shot video on social media undergoing interrogation, and eventually handed him over to Ibrahim Gotan, Commissioner of Police in the state.
The PUNCH quoted one of the sources as saying: “The arrest (of Adeyemi) took place on Tuesday morning by the IRT squad, who immediately moved him to Abuja. After he was arrested, he was taken to Ibadan and from there to Abuja.”
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