Alex Enumah in Abuja 

Justice Obiora Egwuatu of a Federal High Court in Abuja, on Wednesday, vacated his order declaring the suspension of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan by the Senate as null and void.

Justice Egwuatu vacated the March 4 order, after listening to the arguments of the counsel for the plaintiff and lawyers to the defendants in the suit.

The court had on March 4, granted five reliefs sought by the Kogi Central Senator, including Order Number Four, which declared any action taken by the defendants during the pendency of the suit as null, void and of no effect whatsoever.

Egwuatu had granted the five prayers after Sanusi Musa (SAN), who appeared for Akpoti-Uduaghan moved the ex-parte motion marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/384/2025.

The plaintIff had in the motion ex-parte, sued the Clerk of the National Assembly, the Senate, President of the Senate, and Chairman, Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Code of Conduct, Senator Neda Imasuem, as first to fourth defendants respectively.

Among reliefs sought was an order of interim injunction restraining the Senate’s committee headed by Imasuem from proceeding with the purported investigation against her for alleged misconduct sequel to the events that occurred at plenary on February 20, pursuant to the referral by the Senate on February 25, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice for interlocutory injunction, among others.

However, the Senate, in a motion on notice filed on March 17 by its lawyer, Chikaosolu Ojukwu (SAN), had sought an order setting aside order number four in the enrolled ex-parte order made by Justice Egwuatu against the defendants.

Ojukwu urged the court to vacate the order in the interest of fair hearing.

While citing Section 36(1) of the constitution, the lawyer argued that order number four was interlocutory in nature and ought not to have been granted by the court, adding that the said order number four was vague, ambiguous and lacking in specificity as it did not specify which of the parties it was targeted at or referring to and what actions it related to.

He also argued that the order, in the form in which it was granted, “refers to all actions of whatever nature, without any limitation, taken by both the plaintiff/ respondent and the defendants”.

Ojukwu said enforcing the said order, as granted, would result in a constitutional crisis and anarchy, as the entire legislative duties of the Senate would be made to grind to a halt.

“The order offends the doctrine of separation of powers as enshrined in Section 4 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“This honourable court lacks the jurisdiction to restrain parliament from conducting its constitutional duties,” he said.

He therefore urged the court to hold that the entire proceedings of March 4 upon which that breach occured was in nullity.

Responding, the counsel to the Clerk, Charles Yoila; Kehinde Ogunwumiju (SAN), who appeared for Akpabio and Umeh Kalu (SAN), who represented Imasuem, aligned themselves with Ojukwu’s argument.

But the counsel, who appeared for Natasha, Michael Numa (SAN), disagreed with their submissions and urged the court to dismiss the defence application and exercise its disciplinary powers on them for alleged contempt of the valid court order.

In a short ruling, the court agreed with the defence and set aside order number four from the prayers earlier granted and subsequently adjourned till March 25 for hearing of all pending applications.

A day after the exparte order was granted, the Senate announced Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suspension for six months.

Dissatisfied, she instituted a contempt charge, seeking to jail the defendants for alleged wilful disobedience to the subsisting court order issued on March 4.

According to the Form 48, the defendants/contemnors “deliberately and contumaciously disregarded” the binding directive of the court and “proceeded with acts in flagrant defiance of the authority of the court”.

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