The Senate on Tuesday referred Sen. Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan (PDP-Kogi) to its Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions over alleged disorderly conduct during a recent plenary session.

The committee, chaired by Sen. Neda Imaseun (LP, Edo), was mandated to turn in its findings in two weeks.

The upper chamber’s resolution was sequel to a voice vote after the lawmakers had revisited the controversy surrounding the recent altercation between Akpoti-Uduaghan and the senate leadership over seat allocation.

Coming under Order 1(b) and 10, the senate’s Spokesperson, Sen. Yemi Adaramodu, condemned what he described as Akpoti-Uduaghan’s “extreme intransigence” during the senate session on Feb. 20.

“From that Thursday, the media was awash with this issue and I had to work on mending the perception of the 10th senate.

“The senate is not a platform for content creation but a place for lawmaking and oversight functions,” he said.

Adaramodu urged the senate leadership to enforce discipline, warning that ‘where there is sin, there must be penalty’.

“This chamber is not a place for theatrics or social media content creation. We are here to legislate, advocate for our constituents and provide oversight over MDAs, not to engage in media dramatisation,” he said.

Sen. Jimoh Ibrahim (APC-Ondo) also supported the motion, emphasising the importance of maintaining order and decorum in the senate.

Ibrahim urged all senators to respect the institution’s guiding rules, comparing the Standing Orders to the Bible and Quran for lawmakers.

Also, the Senate Leader, Sen. Opeyemi Bamidele, moved a motion for the disciplinary review, affirming the senate’s commitment to its rules and internal order.

According to him, there is no one who does not have an opinion on this issue, but we are unified by our rules.

“Under our watch, we will not allow this institution to be discredited beyond what we inherited. Our integrity is non-negotiable,” he said.

Bamidele dismissed claims that the dispute was rooted in gender bias or discrimination, citing examples of senior senators who had accepted seat changes without protest.

Contributing, the Senate Minority Leader, Sen. Abba Moro, described the incident as “an avoidable drama” and apologised on behalf of Akpoti-Uduaghan.

He urged the senate to focus on its legislative responsibilities, while allowing the ethics committee to handle the matter.

Responding, President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, directed the committee on ethics and privileges to review the entire incident and report back to the chamber in two weeks.

According to Akpabio, the senate rules allow members to sit anywhere, but that contributions must be made from their designated seats.

He said that lack of familiarity with the senate procedures might have contributed to the altercation.

“The first day she (Akpoti-Uduaghan) was sworn in, she stood up to contribute and I was worried if she had even read the rule book.

“There is nothing wrong with being vibrant but everything is wrong with disobeying procedures,” he said.

Citing Order 66(2) and Section 55 of Senate rules, he underscored the need for senators to conduct themselves with decorum, including prohibitions on chewing gum, drinking water or being disruptive during sittings.

“The rules empower the senate president to suspend a senator for infractions for, at least, 14 days. It’s not me who made the rules; it’s in the rule book,” Akpabio said. (NAN)
(www.nannews.ng

Senator files N100.3bn lawsuit against Godswill Akpabio

Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, a federal lawmaker representing Kogi Central Senatorial District, has filed a N100.3 billion defamation lawsuit against Senate President Godswill Akpabio in the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Abuja.

Akpoti-Uduaghan claims that Akpabio defamed her through a damaging post shared on his official Facebook page.

The post, allegedly published by Akpabio’s aide, carried the headline “Is Local Content Committee of the Senate NATASHA’s BIRTHRIGHT?”

The lawmaker asserts that the publication made derogatory remarks about her, suggesting that she believed being a lawmaker was merely about “pancaking her face” and “wearing transparent outfits” to Senate sessions.

In addition to Akpabio, the lawsuit also names Mr. Mfon Patrick, a Senior Legislative Aide to the Senate President, as a defendant.

The legal action, which is marked as suit CV/737/25, seeks to address the damage caused to Akpoti-Uduaghan’s reputation.

The Kogi lawmaker contends that the post severely tarnished her image, portraying her in a negative light and diminishing her standing both among her fellow lawmakers and the public.

She further argues that the post was not only defamatory but also provocative and disparaging.

Akpoti-Uduaghan, represented by a legal team led by Mr. Victor Giwa, is requesting that the court order the immediate retraction of the post and a public apology from the defendants. The apology, according to the claim, must be published in a widely circulated national newspaper.

Other reliefs, include: “A declaration that the words ‘it is a bottled anger by the Kogi Lawmaker, who knows nothing about legislative rules. She thinks being a lawmaker is all about pancaking her face and wearing transparent outfits to the Chambers,’ used and written by the 3rd defendant at the prompting of the 1st and 2nd defendants, is defamatory and intended to cause public opprobrium and disaffection towards the Claimant by members of the public.

“An order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendants, whether acting by themselves or through their agents, privies, assigns or associates, from further publishing or caused to be published the said defamatory words herein stated or any other similar publications about the Claimant on the social media platform or in any other manner, which is capable of defaming the Claimant.”

In addition to her demands for the retraction and apology, Akpoti-Uduaghan is seeking N100 billion in general damages and an additional N300 million to cover legal expenses.

At present, the court has yet to set a date for hearing the case.

This legal action comes on the heels of a recent confrontation between Akpoti-Uduaghan and Senate President Akpabio over a controversial seat change in the Senate.

The lawmaker had strongly objected to the unauthorized alteration of her seat, which she believed was linked to the defection of opposition lawmakers to the ruling party.

The dispute escalated when Akpabio ordered the Senate’s Aide-de-camp to escort Akpoti-Uduaghan out of the chamber, a move that sparked widespread public debate across Nigeria.

Two teachers sentenced to 44 years jail term for r*p* of Students

An Ekiti High Court sitting in Ado Ekiti on Tuesday, sentenced two teachers to 44 years imprisonment for offence of rape without an option of fine.

The Prosecution, Mr Kunle-Shina Adeyemi told the court that the defendants, Gbenga Ajibola (43) and Olaofe Ayodele (52) were arraigned before Justice Adeniyi Familoni on March 2, 2022 on a three count charge bordering on rape and abuse of office.

He said that the defendants sometimes in Nov, 2019 in Ado-Ekiti raped two female students of 17 and 15 years respectively names withheld.

According to him, the offence contravened Section 31(2) of the Childs Right Law, Cap. C7, Laws of Ekiti State, 2012.

In her testimony before the Court, one of the victims said that one of the convicts, Ajibola was her Computer teacher, and always disturbing her while in class.

“On this fateful day, he told me to be in mufti and gave me N200 to go and wait for him in front of a filling station along Bank Road.

“He later came there alongside Mr Olaofe, but before they came, one of my classmates also met me there, he told me that Mr Olaofe asked her to wait here for him.

“When they came, we all left for a hotel, around Oke-Ila area of Ado Ekiti, on getting there, we were taken to different rooms where Mr Ajibola had sexual intercourse with me.

“After that day, he continued to disturb me, when I could no more bear it, I narrated what happened to my mother who later took the matter up,” she narrated.

To prove his case, the prosecutor called four witnesses and tendered statements of the victims and defendants, medical reports, as well as report of the Panel of enquiry among others as exhibits.

Also, Counsel to the defendants, Mr Lawrence Fasanmi called six witnesses to prove his case.

In his judgement, Justice Familoni said, the defendants shared their minds and mulled the voice of conscience as they took advantage of the victims with reckless abandonment.

“They deserved severe panel sanction for their misdeeds to serve as a warning and deterrent to others who may want to follow their footsteps,”.

Justice Familoni thereby sentenced the defendants, Ajibola Gbenga and Olaofe Ayodele to 20 years imprisonment each without an option of fine on count one and two years each on count two without option of fine, making 44 years imprisonment, saying that it should run concurrently. (NAN)