The Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday found the senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, guilty of contempt of court for a Facebook post she made on April 27, which the court said breached an earlier order.
Justice Binta Nyako gave the ruling in the case where Akpoti-Uduaghan had filed a suit against her suspension. However, the judge began by addressing the contempt application submitted by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, who argued that the senator’s social media activity disobeyed the court’s earlier directive.
Akpabio noted in his application that the Facebook post was in direct violation of a court order that instructed all parties involved in the suspension matter not to comment to the press or post anything about the case on social media platforms.
In response, Akpoti-Uduaghan’s legal team argued that the Facebook post was not related to the case about her suspension but was instead about a separate matter involving allegations of sexual misconduct tied to the third respondent, which in this case is Akpabio.
Despite this argument, Justice Nyako ruled otherwise. She noted that after carefully examining both the content of the Facebook post and the court filings submitted by Akpabio, it was clear to her that the senator’s post was related to the ongoing court matter concerning her suspension. Based on this, the court declared Akpoti-Uduaghan guilty of contempt.
Following the ruling, Justice Nyako issued a directive ordering the senator to issue a formal apology. She must publish this apology in two national newspapers and also repost it on her Facebook page within seven days. In addition, the judge imposed a monetary fine of N5 million on the senator.
