Justice Obiora Egwuatu of the Federal High Court, Abuja on Tuesday, March 26, 2025, recused himself from the case involving the suspension of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan and Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.
When the Court clerk announced the case for hearing, Justice Egwuatu declared that following a petition by Senator Akpabio questioning his impartiality in the case, he was stepping aside.
The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio had through his team of lawyers led by Mr. Kehinde Ogunwumiju, SAN, queried the powers of the court to meddle in the affairs of the Senate.
The trial judge Justice Egwuatu had last week ruled in favour of the Senate’s application, reversing his order of March 4, 2025, which had stopped the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions from going ahead with the disciplinary proceeding initiated against Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan over allegation of flouting the rules of the Senate.
More so, Justice Egwuatu gave defendants in the matter, 72 hours to show cause why it should not issue an order of interlocutory injunction to stop them from probing the plaintiff for alleged misconduct, without affording her the privileges stipulated in the 1999 Constitution, as amended, the Senate Standing Order 2023, and the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act.
Egwuatu granted the plaintiff permission to serve the Originating Summons and all accompanying processes on all the defendants, through substituted means and also directed that they should be served by handing the processes to the Clerk of the National Assembly or by pasting them on the premises of the National Assembly and publishing same in two national dailies.
The Court interim orders followed an ex-parte application and an affidavit of urgency that was brought before it by Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan.
But, despite the orders of the court, the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions held its sitting and slammed Senator Akpoti-Natasha with a six-month suspension.
Again, following an application by the defendants, Justice Egwuatu amended the interim order he earlier issued in favour of Akpoti-Uduaghan by vacating the aspect that barred the Senate from undertaking any activity within the pendency of the suit.
Following his withdrawal from the case, Justice Egwiatu therefore directed that the case file should be returned to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court for reassignment to another judge.
