Senate’s legal team warns Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan over misleading claims on court judgment

The legal representatives of the Nigerian Senate have issued a formal warning to Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan over her public claims that the Federal High Court has ordered her recall from suspension. The caution was contained in a letter from Paul Daudu, SAN & Co., addressed to J.S. Okutekpa, SAN & Co., counsel to the senator.

The letter refers to a viral video in which Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan is seen addressing her supporters, stating that she would resume her duties at the Senate based on the ruling of Justice Binta Nyako delivered on July 4, 2025.

“Your client… is seen addressing her supporters and asserting that, based on the judgment of the Honourable Court, she will resume her legislative duties at the Senate next Tuesday,” the letter reads.

“She alleges that the Court… gave an order directing the Senate to recall her from suspension.”

However, the Senate’s legal counsel strongly refuted the senator’s interpretation of the judgment.

“As officers of the Court who were present during the delivery of the judgment, we are constrained to set the record straight,” the letter stated.

“The judgment… did not contain any express order setting aside or nullifying the six-month suspension imposed on your client.”

The letter explained that while the Court made a remark regarding the “excessiveness” of the suspension in light of the rights of her constituents, it was “an opinion, an obiter dicta” — not a binding legal directive.

“What the Court delivered… was an opinion… that the six-month suspension may be considered excessive… This, however, was not crystallised into any binding or enforceable relief or order.”

The Senate’s legal team also expressed concern about the potential impact of the senator’s public assertions.

“The assertion now being circulated publicly by your client… is not only misleading but capable of generating confusion and tension within the legislative environment,” they cautioned.

In a plea for institutional decorum and respect for judicial process, Paul Daudu, SAN urged Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan’s lawyers to counsel her to “refrain from attempting to resume legislative duties until the enrolled order is released and properly reviewed by all parties.”

“This is not only to avoid contemptuous conduct,” the letter added, “but to ensure that all actions… align strictly with the actual tenor and intendment of the judgment.”

The letter concluded with a call for professionalism and caution, stressing that the enrolled order of the court ruling is yet to be made available:

“Until same is obtained, relied upon, and duly examined, it is prudent that no party takes any step on the assumption of the existence of an order which is not borne out of the actual pronouncement of the Court.”

As of the time of filing this report, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan has not formally responded to the Senate’s legal correspondence.