•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.

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