The tyranny of Akpabio and his gang by Yemi Adebowale

I’m not sorry to say that the current Nigerian Senate is dominated by tyrants. The few honourable ones among them have been boxed into a corner and too weak to defend our laws.

The oppressors, led by President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, are dangerously lawless. They are lawmakers, yet they have no respect for the laws of our land. This was demonstrated last week during the so-called suspension of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan (Kogi Central) for six months for “flagrant disobedience” of some sections of the Senate’s Standing Orders and her “unparliamentary behaviour” during some plenaries and proceedings.

Akpabio’s Senate also decreed that during the period of her suspension, Natasha should not be paid salaries and other entitlements and that she must not parade herself as a senator during the period. What nonsense! I will come back to these later. But I must quickly state that it is absolute anarchy for the Senate’s Ethics Committee to have gone ahead with the “trial of Natasha” despite a restraining court order.

Notwithstanding several rulings by Nigerian courts that a lawmaker can’t be suspended, power-drunk Akpabio and his gang scornfully suspended Natasha. Of course, they are aware that a legislator is a representative of his constituency, whose membership is guaranteed by the Constitution and not by a legislative body or persons. So, Natasha can’t be suspended by the Senate. This was affirmed by the Court of Appeal in 2017, in the case of the Speaker of the Bauchi State House of Assembly Vs Honourable Rifkatu Danna.

Danna was suspended for berating the decision of the Bauchi State House of Assembly to relocate the headquarters of Bogoro LGA to Bununu from Tafawa Balewa. While voiding Danna’s suspension, the Appeal Court declared, “The conduct of the Bauchi Speaker and his supporters is the tyranny of the majority against an elected minority of the Bauchi State House of Assembly.”

The Court of Appeal ruled further that Danna “is not an employee of the Bauchi State House of Assembly, and can neither be suspended nor her entitlements withheld.” It declared that the House of Assembly “has no right” to interfere with the wages and allowances of any member of the House of Assembly. In addition, it said that the constituency Danna represented was robbed of meaningful democracy dividends during her suspension and immediately ordered her recall.

Danna’s case is just one of the several cases of lawmakers’ suspensions that were voided by Nigerian courts and declared unconstitutional. I also need to remind Akpabio and his gang of the case of Senator Ali Ndume. When the Bukola Saraki-led Senate suspended him over a petition against Saraki, Ndume went to court. Justice Babatunde Quadri of the Federal High Court, Abuja, voided the suspension, ruling that the Senate “has no such power.”

Justice Quadri declared, “The suspension of Ndume is in violation of Sections 68 and 69 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) and Article 13(1) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act CAP A9 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.” The judge consequently ordered the Senate to pay Ndume all his withdrawn wages and allowances.

Akpabio and his imprudent gang are aware of these judgments voiding the suspension of lawmakers but care less. They are on a mission to bully Natasha into submission. The ongoing defence of the suspension is utterly stupid. They are saying that the suspension was “a response to Akpoti-Uduaghan’s repeated violations of legislative decorum.” So, how did “refusing to sit in her assigned seat during plenary on 25th February 2025, despite multiple pleas from the minority leader and other ranking senators” amount to an act of open defiance and disorderly conduct? These guys must be high on something. Only God knows what it is.

They also said Natasha spoke “without being recognized by the presiding officer, in clear violation of parliamentary practices and procedures on 25th February 2025” and that she was “engaging in unruly and disruptive behavior, obstructing the orderly conduct of Senate proceedings, and making abusive and disrespectful remarks against the leadership of the Senate.” So, these should warrant a six-month suspension? Haba! In other climes, we see legislators exchange blows in the legislature, and life goes on. Natasha, despite her legislative immunity, did not even slap Akpabio, and they are throwing these huge stones at her.

How can a legislator be punished for “speaking without permission” in the legislature? Punishing her for peacefully expressing herself? This is preposterous. It is an infringement of her rights to free speech, more so, in the parliament, a body that should be seen protecting human rights. Any application of the Senate Standing Orders must conform with the Constitution of Nigeria. Any part of the rules that contradicts the Nigerian Constitution, in this case, human rights/freedom of expression, is a nullity. This is the law.

Besides, citizens exercise political power either directly or through elected representatives. Residents of her Kogi Central elected Natasha for this purpose in the Senate. Her illegitimate suspension has now excluded residents of Kogi Central from participating in government at the Senate level. The Nigerian Senate has no such power to do so.

Today, I’m demanding the immediate recall of Natasha and a letter of apology to the people of Kogi Central from Akpabio and his gang. This is the only way forward for the Senate. Kudos to Natasha for her tenacity. Nigeria needs more of Natasha to rejig this country.