The Federal High Court in Abuja has postponed the hearing of a contempt case involving Senate President Godswill Akpabio and suspended Kogi Central Senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, to Tuesday, May 13, 2025.
Justice Binta Nyako, presiding over the case, made the adjournment on Monday following submissions from legal representatives of the defendants. They informed the court that a fresh application had been filed, drawing attention to what they claimed was contemptuous behavior by Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan.
The case stems from an earlier disagreement in the Senate chamber on February 20 during a plenary session. The incident led to a series of allegations, including a televised claim by Akpoti-Uduaghan accusing Akpabio of sexual harassment.
In response to the backlash, the senator sought legal protection from the Federal High Court to stop the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Petitions from probing her actions. Her ex parte motion, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/384/2025, named several officials including the Clerk of the National Assembly, the Senate President, and the committee chairman, Senator Nedamwen Imasuen.
On March 4, the court ordered the Senate not to proceed with any disciplinary action. However, two days later, on March 6, the Senate moved forward and suspended Akpoti-Uduaghan, citing alleged misconduct based on the committee’s findings—even though the case was still before the court.
Then on April 4, Justice Nyako directed all parties to refrain from speaking to the media or posting about the matter online. Despite this, Akpabio’s legal team claimed that Akpoti-Uduaghan disobeyed the court’s instruction by sharing a satirical Facebook post. They argued the post was in defiance of the court and mocked the judicial process.
“This court ordered that there should be no social media posts, but there was one. The plaintiff herself posted a satirical apology on her Facebook page,” stated Paul Daudu, representing the second defendant.
Akpabio’s lawyer, Ekoh Ejembi (SAN), backed the claim and presented a Punch newspaper report as evidence. He said the post clearly violated the court’s ruling.
In response, Akpoti-Uduaghan’s counsel, Jibrin Okutekpa, argued that the post had no link to the court case but related to the earlier sexual harassment issue. He asked the judge to ignore the contempt claims and proceed with the main case.
“Our counter-affidavit concerns only the matter before the court. The satirical post has no connection to it,” he said, while also pointing out that his client had already been absent from the National Assembly for a total of 68 days.
Justice Nyako, however, stated firmly that the court must deal with the contempt issue before anything else. She warned that any further defiance could lead to serious consequences.
“If counsel or litigants disobey the court, then the court has no business hearing them—that is my position,” she said.
The judge further acknowledged that Akpoti-Uduaghan’s legal team also had their own contempt allegations against the defendants and invited them to file it formally for consideration.
The hearing is now set for a decisive session on May 13, with all sides expected to address the contempt claims before the main case can move forward.
