A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Friday ordered the Nigerian Senate to reinstate the suspended Senator representing Kogi Central senatorial district, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan back to the Senate.
The trial judge, Justice Binta Nyako, held that a Senator can be sanctioned but not punishing an entire district, people who have not directly offended the Senate.
The judge further held that such action deprived the entire senatorial district of representation at the Senate.
Ruling on the contempt of court filed against the lawmaker by the counsel to the defendants following the satirical letter she published on her Facebook page, the judge ordered Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan to pay five million Naira fine and to publish an apology letter in two national dailies and her Facebook page within seven days.
With the court ruling declaring the six months suspension illegal, the Senate is expected to obey the order of the Federal High Court and reinstates the Senator back to office.
