A former Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General (AG) of Kaduna State, Mark Jacobs, has said that Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, representing Kogi Central, should be allowed to resume at the Senate following the conclusion of her six-month suspension.
New Telegraph had earlier reported that the Senate, on Tuesday, acknowledged the lawmaker’s notice, informing the upper chamber of her intention to resume, but the Senate stated that her matter cannot be addressed until the court rules on the matter.
Reacting to the development on Wednesday in an interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, Jacob argued that the Kogi Central lawmaker does not need the finalisation of a judicial process to resume sitting at the National Assembly.
The former Commissioner accused the Senate of double standards, citing a court verdict that ruled her suspension as unconstitutional.
He also criticised the Senate for frustrating the judicial process through unending objections and preliminary filings in the case, rather than allowing the substantive issues to be heard.
READ ALSO
“What I see is a further display of impunity gone wild. The Senate has always insisted that nobody, including the courts, should interfere with its constitutional powers to discipline members.
“Yet, the same Senate suspended this woman for six months, and when those six months expired, there should be no confusion; she should have been allowed to resume her seat.
“You cannot blow hot and cold at the same time. You cannot say the courts should not interfere in your internal affairs and then turn around to rely on the court process to delay compliance with your own rules. Six months should be six months, no discussion, no hesitation.
“They keep filing one objection or the other to make sure we don’t get to a hearing. If they believe they have evidence against her, let the matter proceed in court. But you can’t keep the case stalled and at the same time deny her return after the suspension period has lapsed,” he told the morning show crew from the nation’s capital of Abuja.
