The Court of Appeal in Abuja, on Monday, affirmed that the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, acted within his constitutional powers, by suspending Kogi Central representative, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan on grounds of misconduct. 

In its verdict, a three-member panel of Justices held that the Senate President was constitutionally empowered to relocate Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan’s seat, deny her speaking right from an unallocated seat, as well as refer her to the senate’s ethics committee for investigation.

The presiding judge, Justice Abba Muhammed, however, nullified the contempt charge and N5 million fine previously imposed on Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan over a satirical apology she directed at Mr Akpabio.

Earlier in 2025, Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan filed a suit seeking to stop the senate’s Ethics and Petition Committee from initiating disciplinary charges against her.

In her ruling, the High Court judge, Binta Nyako, ruled at the time that the senate president has the power to alter seating arrangements as provided under the Senate Rules.

She, however, faulted the six-month duration for which Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan was suspended, describing the time-range as “overreaching” and “excessive”.

In the same ruling, Mrs Nyako found the Kogi Senator guilty of contempt by publishing a satirical apology to the Senate president.

She ordered Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan to pay a N5 million fine, as well as publish an apology to the court in two national dailies and on her Facebook handle.

Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suspension, in March 2025, stemmed from her refusal to comply with a routine seat reassignment, which some senators claimed was a mere legislative protocol.

Prior, Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan alleged that her trouble in the red chamber began after she rejected sexual advances from Mr Akpabio.

Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan, while appearing on Arise TV at the time, traced the advances to December 2023, when she and her husband paid a visit to the senate president’s home in Uyo.

“The seat change was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Many people don’t know what I’m about to say but I’m going to speak my own truth. The senate president is allowed to counter that,” Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan stated.

She also accused Mr Akpabio of obstructing her legislative motion attempts, particularly in one of the plenaries where the Ajaokuta Steel Company matter was being discussed.

She claimed that Mr Akpabio responded to her subsequent inquiry about the reactions on the floor of the Senate by telling her that she would enjoy a whole lot “if you just take care of me”.

Also, Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan claimed that the senate president, who later publicly apologised, once compared her conduct in the Senate to that of a “nightclub girl”.