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September 22, 2025
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Tinubu Meets With Reinstated Rivers Gov Fubara At State House

Deji Elumoye in Abuja

The reinstated Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, has arrived the State House, Abuja for a meeting with President Bola Tinubu.

Fubara, who arrived the presidential villa at about 6.25 pm, was led into the waiting room of the president.

He is expected to be ushered into the president’s office later to discuss developments in the oil-rich state since he resumed office last week.

Fubara, who was suspended from office in March 2025 in the wake of the political crisis in Rivers was reinstated on September 18, 2025 but did not resume office in Port Harcourt until Friday, September 19, 2025.

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September 22, 2025
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Nigeria’s GDP Grew By 4.23% in Q2

James Emejo in Abuja

The country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 4.23 per cent, year-on-year, in real terms in the second quarter of the year (Q2 2025) compared to 3.48 per cent in Q2 2024, and 3.13 per cent in Q1 2025, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Monday.

During the quarter under review, agriculture grew by 2.82 per cent, an improvement from the 2.60 per cent recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2024.

The growth of the industry sector stood at 7.45 per cent from 3.72 per cent recorded in Q2 2024, while the services sector recorded a growth of 3.94 per cent from 3.83 per cent in the same quarter of 2024.

In terms of share of the GDP, the industry sector contributed more to the aggregate GDP in the second quarter of 2025 at 17.31 per cent compared to the corresponding quarter of 2024 at 16.79 per cent.

Details later…..

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September 19, 2025
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Just in: Rivers People Await Fubara’s Return, Storm P’Harcourt International Airport

Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt

Hundreds of indigenes and residents of Rivers State, early hours of today (Friday), stormed the Port Harcourt International Airport in Omagwa, awaiting the arrival of Governor Siminalayi Fubara, two days after President Bola Tinubu lifted the state of emergency imposed on the state.

President Tinubu had on Wednesday, announced the revocation of the six-month Emergency Rule in the State.

In celebration, Rivers people stormed the Government House in Port Harcourt, to welcome him but were disappointed that he was not yet back in the state to resume work.

Meanwhile, at the Airport this morning, Fubara’s supporters were sighted performing cultural display as they await his return. At the VIP wing, THISDAY sighted Fubara’s supporters all awaiting his return.

It was also observed that non of the other parties in the struggle that led to the emergency rule were at the Airport. Most of his supporters who were his commissioners, Special Aides, disbanded local government chairmen, were at the airport to welcome him back to the State.

As at the time of filing this report, the governor has yet to arrive the airport.

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September 17, 2025
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NECO Releases 2025 Senior Secondary School June/July Results

Laleye Dipo in Minna

The National Examination Council NECO on Wednesday released the results of the Senior Secondary School Examination SSCE it conducted between June and July this year with 818,492 candidates recording five credits and above in five subjects and above including Mathematics and English.

The results were released 54 days after the conduct of the last paper.

1,144,496 students also recorded five credits and above irrespective of mathematics and English in the examination.

A total number of 1,367,310 candidates registered for the examination, with 1,358,339, made up of 680,292 males and 678,047 female, sat for the examination.

The Registrar and Chief Executive Officer of NECO Dantani Ibrahim Wushishi who released the results said 3,878 candidates were involved in various forms of examination malpractices as against 10,094 candidates last year.

Professor Wushishi disclosed that during the examinations 38 schools were found to have been involved “in whole school cheating” in 13 states adding that the schools would be invited to the council for “discussion” after which “appropriate sanctions will be applied”.

The Registrar also revealed that 9 supervisors with 3 in Rivers state, 1 in Niger, 3 in Federal Capital Territory FCT,1 in Kano state and 1 in Osun state.

The affected supervisors Wushishi said wre recommended for blacklisting due to poor supervision, aiding and abetting , lateness unruly behaviour assault and insurbodination”

On the issue of 8 schools affected by communal clash which resulted in the disruption of the examinations from 7th to 25th July Wushishi said 13 subjects and 29 papers were affected.

” We have since commenced talks with the state government with a view to conducting the examinations for the affected schools” he said adding that ” this means the results of eight affected schools cannot be released now because they are incomplete”.

Wushishi said candidates could access their results on NECO website.

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September 15, 2025
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Inflation Drops to 20.12%

James Emejo in Abuja

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) which measures the rate of change in prices of goods and services, dropped to 20.12 per cent in August compared to
21.88 per cent in the preceding month, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Monday.
Year on year, headline inflation stood at 12.03 per cent lower than 32.15 per cent in August 2024.
According to the CPI Report for the month under review, inflation decreased in August compared to the same month in the preceding, albeit after rebasing.
Month on month, headline inflation stood at 0.74 per cent, lower than 1.99 per cent in July.
Food inflation dropped to 21.87per cent year on year in August compared to 37.52 per cent in the corresponding period of 2024.
The NBS however, explained that the significant decline in annual food inflation was technically due to the change in the base year.
Nonetheless, the food index dropped to 1.65 per cent month on month in August compared to 3.12 per cent in July.
The statistical agency further attributed the decrease to reduction in average prices of imported and local rice, guinea corn flour, maize flour sold loose, guinea corn (sorghum), millet, semolina, soya milk among others.
Also, the average annual rate of food inflation for the 12 months ending August 2025 over the previous 12-month average was 25.75 per cent compared to 36.99 per cent in August 2024.
Core inflation, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produces and energy dropped to 20.33 per cent year on year in August, decline of 7.25 per cent compared to 27.58 per cent recorded in August 2024.
Month-on-month, the core index however, rose to 1.43 per cent compared to July 0.97 per cent in July.
The average 12-month annual inflation rate was 23.04 per cent for the 12 months ending August 2025. This was 2.14 per cent lower than the 25.18 per cent recorded in August 2024, according the NBS.

Details later…

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September 14, 2025
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Courting Anger on the Streets

By Simon Kolawole

In the meantime, the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) has just bought brand-new Toyota Land Cruisers for its 38 commissioners. Depending on what eventually makes it to the official records, I am told by those who should know that each of those status symbols costs hundreds of millions of naira, although the chairman’s ride is said to cost more. After all, as chairman, he is not anybody’s mate. The RMAFC, lest we forget, was set up to monitor the right and left columns of the federation account, review the allocation formula, set remuneration for political office holders, and advise federal and state governments on how to improve revenue.

I am not good at mathematics (God knows Mr and Mrs Nair, my secondary school teachers from India, did their utmost best), but my simple calculation takes the total cost of those Toyota luxury machines above N8 billion. For comparison, RMAFC’s total budget (capital and recurrent) for 2024 was N3.27 billion. Recently, however, the National Economic Council (NEC) — essentially another gathering of governors — graciously and generously approved a torrential naira rain on the commission, awarding the body a percentage of the country’s non-oil revenue because “they are poorly funded”. The NEC has officially banished poverty from the doorsteps of the commission.

Now that they are no longer poor, with a projected revenue of N105.14 billion to toy with in 2025, the RMAFC and its commissioners (and contractors) think they thoroughly deserve their share of the comfort extended to the divine breed of Nigerians known as “public officers” who enjoy heaven on earth. And I must acknowledge that the RMAFC is not an ungrateful bunch. One good turn deserves another. So, the chairman, Dr Mohammed Bello Shehu, recently said the commission is all out to increase the remuneration of political office holders, including the president, vice-president, governors, deputy governors, ministers, commissioners, advisers, legislators and judicial officers.

“You are paying the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria N1.5 million a month, with a population of over 200 million people,” Shehu said, unprovoked. Really, I have heard President Bola Tinubu complain about many things, but not once has he said his “low salary” is giving him sleepless nights. No governor has yet lamented that he is unable to feed his children because of “poor salary”. I am not saying their pay should not be bigger, but Shehu has become too eager to please as RMAFC is suddenly swimming in an ocean of naira. There is a kind of intoxication that comes with sudden wealth: you will be answering questions nobody asked you and laughing when there ain’t no joke.

And while we are at it, let us quickly swim across to Kebbi state. A general hospital in the state capital, Birni-Kebbi, has been doubling as a stinking swimming pool for a while. A journalist, Hassan Mai-Waya Kangiwa, decided to draw attention to it by filming the crime scene and sharing it on social media. What nonsense! He even said it was not a “skit”! It was a “calculated attempt” to embarrass… I don’t know who… is it the patients or the governor? Kangiwa would normally be promptly arrested by eagle-eyed security officials. He would then be charged to court for cyber bullying. The omnibus law is the greatest threat to freedom of expression in Nigeria today but let us keep pretending it doesn’t concern us.

Anyway, whether the Kebbi journalist was arrested or not, citizens are usually harassed over things like this. It is now the routine in the war against accountability. Only God knows how many times my colleagues and I have been threatened with “cyber bullying” because we are doing our job as journalists. Our job description does not include bullying. In May 2023, a minister asked the Department of State Services (DSS) to investigate me for “cyber terror”. We had terrorised him with the dirty details of how he overturned due process in a contract award. Of course, cyber bullying is real. I know. There are cyber miscreants. There are victims. But there is journalism and there is cyber bullying. Only cowards try to confuse the two.

In any case, Dr Nasir Idris, the governor of Kebbi state, finally stumbled upon the video — or so it seems. In anger, he has suspended Dr Yunusa Musa-Ismail, the commissioner for health, for “negligence of duty” and “disregard” for his mandate. Idris asked Musa-Ismail to provide “cogent reasons” why disciplinary measures should not be taken against him, reiterating his administration’s commitment to “accountability, discipline, and effective service delivery across all sectors”. I hope more Kangiwas will rise across Nigeria and continue to terrorise the authorities with HD videos of neglect and negligence.

The governor actually indicted himself more than the commissioner, even though he might be thinking otherwise. You have a vision of “effective service delivery across all sectors” but you are not aware that in the state capital, right at your backyard, downtrodden patients are sleeping on metal beds without mattresses. That is enough to add migraine to malaria. You are not aware that in the state capital, right at your backyard, there is waist-high flooding of a public hospital. That alone can add cholera to typhoid. If hospitals in the state capitals can be so miserable, let us not try to imagine the situation in rural areas. Most of those we call our leaders in Nigeria live in a different world.

Imagine how many mattresses the price of a 4WD in the Kebbi governor’s convoy can buy for the general hospital. Pardon my petulance, but every time I hear the billions being spent on cars and chartered jets and new government houses and retreats in Rwanda and Qatar, I am always thinking about boreholes and potholes, clinics and culverts. Imagine how many boreholes one RMAFC Land Cruiser can sink to banish cholera and guinea worm from a community. Imagine how many potholes can be mended with the money spent on one chartered flight for a political meeting in Abuja. Forgive me for drawing the attention of our leaders to these inconsequential matters: I just can’t help myself.

In our dearly beloved country today, millions are suffering the harsh economic conditions. They are being told to sacrifice, that there is light at the end of the tunnel. But they are yet to see anything in the lives of our leaders — and I mean leaders at all levels — to suggest that the message of sacrifice is for everybody. Sacrifice is only a message for the poor, the unfortunate. Nothing suggests that government officials are sacrificing something, even if it is a toothpick. They are sacrificing the people instead. No expense is spared. They see Nigerians as docile and dense. Nigerians are anything but docile and dense: there is obviously something that restrains their reaction. I don’t know what.

Truth be told, the Nigerians that I know and interact with daily are angry, bitter and resentful. They can see the convoys of siren-blaring “tear-rubber” 4WDs chasing them off the road. They watch the videos of government officials obscenely showing off their new billion-naira mansions despite failing spectacularly at showing us the light. They know who owns what mansion and discuss it in hushed tones. They are the ones being treated as scumbags and told there are no bed spaces at public hospitals. They know where government officials treat their own ailments. It is their children that are being taught chemistry without chemicals. They know where the children of their leaders school.

And you know what? They are in the vast majority. They are the ones that vote the most but have the tiniest voice. They are the real stakeholders of Nigeria but receive the smallest dividends. They are hungry. They are angry. They believe the country does not care about them. They believe they are always an afterthought, deserving only of crumbs. The leaders continue to carry on without a care in the world — living a life of luxury, running a system of waste and corruption, putting on cosmetic acts of governance, leaving the people high and dry all the time. It is wrong to think Nigerians are tame or lame. They are gravely disillusioned, and this is obvious from conversations.

I must necessarily admit that our leaders are lucky and smart — they have successfully turned us against one another so that we are unable to harness a consensus to tackle them without being impeded by manipulative sectional sentiments. They have chosen topics of discussion for us to keep us busy and distracted, to keep us fighting one another, to keep us blaming ethnicity, religion, war, amalgamation and constitution for the problems that ail us all regardless of the tribal marks on our faces. Nigerians might not be expressing their pains and disgust on the streets like the citizens of other countries such as Nepal have just done, but they feel rejected and neglected all the same.

And this should scare us. When you ride roughshod on the people and they do not respond in kind, don’t think they are stupid. Instead, you should be scared. Pent-up emotions can explode when least expected — and may be over a trivial matter. We have seen this before. Our leaders have to correct course. So, I repeat: the ordinary people must be the object and subject of governance. Good governance. It is not too late to tone down the insane extravagance in government, but many of those we call leaders are so tone-deaf that they cannot read the room. As seen in RMAFC’s indecent Land Cruiser extravaganza, people in power are so used to taking Nigerians for a ride. Insensitive.

AND FOUR OTHER THINGS…

NASTY ON NATASHA

Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan was set to resume her legislative duties having served a six-month suspension for “unruly and disruptive” behaviour following her public lashing-out at Senate President Godswill Akpabio, whom she later accused of sexual harassment, launching a global campaign to state her case. To my shock, the National Assembly has told her she cannot resume because of a case in court regarding her suspension. This is horrible. While those sympathetic to Akpabio can argue that Akpoti-Uduaghan politicised the matter by inviting opportunists to hijack it, I consider it quite bizarre that she is being barred from resuming on such a flimsy excuse. Draconian.

COGNAC IN THE COCKPIT

Two months ago, an Air Peace flight carrying 103 passengers veered off the runway after landing in Port Harcourt. Thankfully, everyone disembarked peacefully, in one piece. But… but… but… is it true the pilots were drunk as alleged by the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB), the statutory agency that investigates air accidents? There were also traces of cannabis in the system of a crew member, the NSIB said. But Air Peace has fought back, pointing out that the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the industry regulator, would not have reinstated its suspended co-pilot if he was involved in alcohol use. In the interim, should we start checking for cognac in the cockpit? Terrifying.

ONLY IN AMERICA

Charlie Kirk, a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump, was killed on Wednesday with a single bullet to the throat at the Utah Valley University. We know that Kirk, notable for plain talk, had many controversial views. He supported the anti-immigration campaign, promoted the claim that Haitians in Springfield were eating residents’ pets, opposed voting a Muslim as mayor of New York, endorsed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, justified Israel’s activities in Gaza, amplified anti-vaccine theories, backed gun rights, and went to church. Still, nobody should be killed for their views. It is so sad. And with the frequent mass shootings and political violence, can we truly say the US is safe? Distressing.

NO COMMENT

Delta state is set to enforce “discipline and professionalism” in the civil service and has, therefore, introduced a dress code that would make Deeper Life and MFM green with envy. Henceforth, no more bushy beards, artificial, braided or dyed hair, long eyelashes, fake nails, and “resource control” or “papas” cap. Senior officers must now appear in full corporate suits while junior ones must wear trousers, shirts and ties. With the state government now addressing the most important needs of the people, can it now turn to sorting out the mundane things — such as hospitals with equipment and drugs, rural roads, potable water, sanitation, pothole-free roads and libraries with books? Hmm?

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September 12, 2025
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GHL: First Bank Wins Battle, But Loses War to Retain Crude Proceeds from FPSO Tokoni

•Court of Appeal: We are determined to protect the crude from First Bank’s dissipation pending determination of court case and/or arbitration

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

After a string of losses, First Bank Nigeria Limited (FBN) has won a battle to set aside the ruling of Justice E.A Obile of the Federal High Court, Port Harcourt which had in March reversed the ex parte order to seize the cargo of crude on board FPSO Tamara Tokoni, but lost the war to retain the crude and monetary value therefrom.

The bank had earlier lost in the case before Justice Lewis Alagoa and Justice Deinde Dipeolu, both of the Federal High Court, Lagos.

The third case they lost was before Justice E.A Obile of the Federal High Court, Port Harcourt which was the subject of the bank’s appeal to the Court of Appeal on a narrow ground where they won the battle but lost the war.

The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal filed by First Bank of Nigeria, setting aside an earlier decision of the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt in its case against GHL.

The Court of Appeal directed that crude be sold and the proceeds be paid into a court-administered escrow pending the hearing and determination of the arbitration and other processes currently ongoing.

Court of Appeal strongly expressed its determination to protect the crude from First Bank dissipation pending determination of the court case and/or arbitration.

The Court sitting in Abuja, appointed the Chief Re gistrar of the Court, in liaison with the Admiralty Marshal to take charge, possession and to secure any cargo of crude oil on board FPSO Tamara Tokoni against expropriation, waste, dissipation and or fraudulent disposition pending the hearing and determination of a suit before the trial court and or court of arbitration in the case.

A three-man panel led by Justice Hamma Barka while allowing the appeal filed by First Bank said the interest of justice in the case demanded that the res (subject matter) be preserved pending the determination of the case still pending at the high court and before an arbitration panel.

The court also issued an order directing payment of the proceeds of each sale into a single interest yielding escrow account in the name of the Chief Registrar of the Court of Appeal pending the hearing of the suit before the trial court and or before the court of arbitration.

GHL had taken First Bank to arbitration and the process is on going with a decision expected before the end of the year.

The FPSO has crude oil belonging to GHL, Conoil/NNPC. First Bank claimed that GHL owed it $225.8 million in debt. However, GHL strongly denied the claim, saying FBN on several occasions breached the 2021 Subrogation Agreement and no payment is due.

In the Appeal, GHL accused FBN of abusing an ex parte freezing orders when it selectively released part of the crude in the FPSO to Conoil and NNPCL. But the Court of Appeal has now stopped all that, giving all possession and control of all crude in the FPSO to the Chief Registrar assisted by the Admiralty Marshall of the Court of Appeal.

In its ruling yesterday, the Appeal Court said the main issue in contention was the need to preserve the res, being crude oil in FPSO. It also ordered that proceeds from the sale of the cargo be paid to an escrow account in the name of the Chief Registrar.

The funds will remain under the custody of the court until the matter is determined either at trial or in arbitration, it was learnt. The parties were further directed to bear their own costs.

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September 12, 2025
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GHL: First Bank Wins Battle, But Loses War to Retain Crude Proceeds from FPSO Tokoni

•Court of Appeal: We are determined to protect the crude from First Bank’s dissipation pending determination of court case and/or arbitration

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

The bank had earlier lost in the case before Justice Lewis Alagoa and Justice Deinde Dipeolu, both of the Federal High Court, Lagos.

The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal filed by First Bank of Nigeria, setting aside an earlier decision of the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt in its case against GHL.

Court of Appeal strongly expressed its determination to protect the crude from First Bank dissipation pending determination of the court case and/or arbitration.

GHL had taken First Bank to arbitration and the process is on going with a decision expected before the end of the year.

The funds will remain under the custody of the court until the matter is determined either at trial or in arbitration, it was learnt. The parties were further directed to bear their own costs.

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September 12, 2025
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NLC, Ozekhome, Natasha’s Lawyer Condemn Senate over Senator’s Prolonged Suspension

•Labour: This is descent into dictatorship, brazen, premeditated assault on democracy; threatens to mobilise against senate

•Constitutional lawyer: Continued suspension is political victimization, unconstitutional

•Natasha’s lawyer replies NASS clerk, threatens further legal actions

Wale Igbintade and Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), constitutional lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Prof. Mike Ozekhome and the legal team representing Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan have strongly condemned Senate’s decision to continue barring the Kogi State senator from resumption and performing her sacred constitutional duties even after her controversial suspension has expired.

The NLC warned it may be forced to mobilize its members and moral authority to resist alleged slide into autocracy.

In a statement signed by NLC President Joe Ajaero, the Labour movement cautioned the Senate leadership against creating anarchy.

“This act is not merely an error in judgement; it is a brazen, premeditated assault on democracy itself, a direct threat to the social contract, and a dangerous slide towards fascism masquerading as governance.

“That you suspended a fellow Senator from her constitutional roles depriving her people proper representation is not sinful enough but you went ahead to ignore the rulings of the Court that voided her suspension and at the expiration of your illegal suspension, you are still denying her a return is the height of impunity and morally reprehensible. This is no longer democracy,” NLC said

Meanwhile, constitutional lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Prof. Mike Ozekhome, also criticised the Senate for continuing to bar Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan from resuming her legislative duties despite the expiration of her six-month suspension.

In a statement issued yesterday, Ozekhome described the move as unconstitutional, stressing that indefinite suspension of an elected lawmaker strips an entire constituency of representation, insisting the continued suspension amounted to political victimization.

He noted that Akpoti-Uduaghan, who represents Kogi Central, had served out her suspension imposed in March but was blocked from returning after a letter from the Acting Clerk of the National Assembly cited ongoing appeals in court.

Meanwhile, in a related development, the legal team representing Senator Natasha Hadiza Akpoti-Uduaghan has written a letter to the Clerk of the National Assembly, accusing him of overstepping his authority by refusing to facilitate her return to the Senate despite the expiration of her suspension and subsisting court orders mandating her recall.

In a letter dated September 11, 2025, and signed by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, (SAN), Michael Jonathan Numa, the lawyers described the Clerk’s refusal to act as “unlawful, unconstitutional, and politically motivated.”

Further reacting to Senates obstructive footing, the NLC described Senate’s recourse to a frivolous legal technicality claiming the matter is subjudice after the expiration of a patently illegal six-month suspension, “as the height of legislative bad faith”.

“It is a cynical ploy that reveals a sinister agenda to silence dissent, crush opposition, and manipulate the judiciary as a tool of political persecution.

“This action, led by Senator Akpabio, constitutes a gross abuse of power that shames the hallowed chambers of the National Assembly and spits on the collective will of the people of Kogi Central who elected Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan.

“From our standpoint, this action is a direct attack on the Nigerian people. It is a declaration by a privileged political elite that they are not accountable to the citizens they purport to serve.

“By willfully disenfranchising an entire senatorial district, the Senate is effectively stealing the political representation for which the people pay taxes.

“This denies Kogi Central its right to participate in lawmaking, oversight, and the appropriation of national resources, directly impoverishing the constituents and perpetuating a system of exclusion and economic injustice.

“It signals to all Nigerians that their votes are meaningless and can be invalidated by the whims of any tyrannical leadership,” it said.

NLC said that it stands on the side of democracy and wishes to state that that Senate’s action is: a calculated test-run for the emasculation of opposition and the subjugation of sovereign will as 2027 approaches.

According to NLC, it is an attempt to punish integrity and honour and hound men and women of conscience out of the political space.

“A Senate that operates as a court in its matter, suspends members, and then ignores the expiry of its own sanctions, is a Senate that has declared war on the very principles of representative democracy and on our nation.

“We warn the leadership of the National Assembly and their enablers: the Nigerian people, united across ethnic and religious lines, will not stand idly by while you cannibalise our democracy.

“The labour movement, as the historic defender of justice and the common good, will mobilise its immense membership and moral authority to resist this slide into autocracy.

“An attack on one senator today is an attack on the sovereignty of every Nigerian voter tomorrow.”

On his part, Ozekhome stated that, “The Senate’s position weaponises the doctrine of sub judice, turning a principle designed to protect the legal process into a tool of suppression. By excluding Senator Natasha, the Red Chamber is not just punishing one individual; it is disenfranchising the people of Kogi Central.”

He accused Senate President Godswill Akpabio of using legislative power for “personal aggrandizement,” insisting the continued suspension amounted to political victimisation following Akpoti-Uduaghan’s earlier allegations against him.

Ozekhome stressed the Constitution provides only four grounds for losing a legislative seat—defection, conviction, resignation, or recall, adding that none allows indefinite suspension.

Citing precedents, including the Court of Appeal decision in Speaker, Bauchi House of Assembly v. Rifkatu Danna, he argued that courts have consistently ruled that elected representatives cannot be shut out under the guise of internal discipline.

“The Senate is not greater than the Constitution that birthed it. To gag Natasha is to silence Kogi Central. Discipline cannot override democracy,” he declared.

On its part, the legal team representing Senator Natasha insisted that Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan, who represents Kogi Central Senatorial District, has a constitutional right to resume her legislative duties and that no administrative barrier can override that.

Part of the letter, obtained by THISDAY in Abuja on Thursday read, “Our client’s right to resume her parliamentary duties, after the expiration of her fixed-term suspension, is rooted in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended).

“It cannot be abridged by administrative fiat or internal Senate maneuverings,” the letter stated.

The controversy stems from a letter dated September 4, 2025, in which the Clerk claimed he could not act on Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan’s planned resumption because the matter was “sub judice” and still awaiting a final judicial pronouncement.

But the Senator’s legal team said this explanation is not only flawed, but part of a “deliberate attempt to subvert the sovereign will of the people of Kogi Central.”

“It is either ill-advised or deliberately contrived to deprive our client of the constitutional mandate freely bestowed upon her by the constituents of Kogi Central Senatorial District,” the letter stated.

They argued that the Clerk, as a non-elected official, lacks any constitutional authority to prevent or delay the resumption of a Senator who has completed a suspension.

“Your functions are purely ministerial: to record, transmit, and implement decisions duly made by the Senate or directed by the courts,” the letter noted.

“By assuming powers you do not possess, you have acted ultra vires, and placed both yourself personally and your office in contempt of the Constitution and binding judicial orders,” the lawyers argued.

The lawyers said the Clerk’s position is based on a “grave misapplication” of the sub judice rule, which they described as a self-imposed restraint on parliamentary debate, not an administrative tool to block constitutional rights or defy court judgments.

The letter further read, “Our client’s resumption of her legislative duties does not prejudice the pending appeal.

“It is rather your obstruction that prejudices the outcome of the appeal by presuming that the Senate will succeed.

“Pending appeals cannot justify extending a sanction which, by its own terms, has expired,” the letter added.

The legal team chronicled a series of incidents that they claimed amounted to deliberate judicial defiance by the Senate leadership and the Clerk’s office.

They cited the March 4, 2025, interim order by Justice Egwuatu restraining the Senate from proceeding with disciplinary action, which was ignored.

They also referenced the July 4, 2025, judgment by Justice Binta Nyako, which declared the suspension unlawful and ordered the Senator’s recall, a judgment, they said, the Senate had refused to act upon, dismissing it as merely “advisory.”

The letter also alleged that, “In spite of its knowledge of the subsisting Court Order, the Senate nevertheless proceeded to suspend our client for an excessive period of six (6) months.

“Your office facilitated and enabled the unlawful enforcement of the suspension by restricting our client’s access to the National Assembly and seizing her emoluments,” the letter read.

They pointed out that even if the suspension were assumed valid, it expired on or about September 6, 2025. At that point, the lawyers claimed, the Senate became functus officio, and had no further power to extend or modify the sanction.

Any continued effort to block her resumption, they argued, would amount to punishing her twice for the same alleged offence.

The letter demanded the immediate facilitation of Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan’s return to the Senate chambers, warning that any further obstruction would trigger legal action against the Clerk personally and in his official capacity.

The letter read, “We hereby demand that you immediately facilitate Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s resumption of her legislative duties without further obstruction.

“Take notice that failure to comply by Monday, 15th September 2025, will leave us with no alternative but to initiate proceedings against you.”

The threatened actions include committal for contempt, disciplinary measures for breach of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers, and potential liability for inciting a breach of the peace.

“We strongly advise that you reconsider your untenable stance and comply with the Constitution and extant judicial orders,” the letter concluded.

Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suspension earlier this year drew widespread criticism from civil society and legal experts, many of whom described it as politically motivated.

As the September 15 deadline draws near, pressure is mounting on the National Assembly to honour the court’s ruling and allow her to resume her constitutional duties.

The post NLC, Ozekhome, Natasha’s Lawyer Condemn Senate over Senator’s Prolonged Suspension appeared first on THISDAYLIVE.

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September 12, 2025
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