The standoff between the National Assembly and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan took a new turn on Thursday as the embattled lawmaker faulted the Senate for rejecting her notice of resumption on the premise that she cannot return to her seat until the pending case in court is resolved.
Akpoti-Uduaghan warned that she will drag the Clerk to the National Assembly (CNA), Kamorudeen Ogunlana, to court if she is not allowed to resume legislative duties by Monday, September 15, 2025.
In a letter dated 10 September and addressed to the Clerk by her lawyer, Michael Numa (SAN), Akpoti-Uduaghan said she must be allowed to resume her lawful duties at the red chamber, as the argument that the matter was subjudice does not hold water.
The counsel therefore advised the Clerk to the National Assembly to reconsider his stance on the matter and allow the senator to resume without any hindrance
“We strongly advise that you reconsider your untenable stance and comply with the Constitution and extant judicial orders.
“Take notice that failure to comply by Monday, 15th September 2025, will leave us with no alternative but to initiate proceedings against you personally and in your official capacity,” the letter read.
According to the counsel, such proceedings will include, but not be limited to: Committal for contempt; Disciplinary action for breach of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers; Liability for instigating breach of the peace with potential implications for national security; and any other remedies available to our client under the law.
The letter titled: “RE: NOTICE OF RESUMPTION,” read in part: “We are Counsel to Senator Natasha Hadiza Akpoti-Uduaghan, the duly elected Senator representing the Kogi Central Senatorial District, and on whose behalf we write in response to your above-referenced letter.
“Our client acknowledges receipt of your letter dated 4th September 2025, with reference number NASS/CNA/29/VOL.1/41, wherein you asserted that the Clerk of the National Assembly cannot take any administrative action towards her planned resumption on the ground that the matter is “sub judice and until a final judicial pronouncement is taken and the Senate formally reviews the suspension in light of the Court pronouncement.
“With respect, the position conveyed in your letter is untenable. It is either ill-advised or deliberately contrived to deprive our client of the constitutional mandate freely bestowed upon her by the constituents of Kogi Central Senatorial District, and therefore amounts to a politically expedient attempt to subvert the sovereign will of the people.
“It is imperative to restate that our client’s right to resume her parliamentary duties, after the expiration of her fixed-term suspension, is rooted in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) and cannot be abridged by administrative fiat or internal Senate manoeuvrings. Sections 68 and 69 of the Constitution circumscribe the limited circumstances under which a Senator’s seat may be declared vacant.
“Nowhere does the Constitution empower the Clerk or even the Senate itself to, by unilateral action, extinguish the sovereign will of the electorate
“Your letter fails to disclose on whose directive you purported to act. By assuming powers you do not possess, you have acted ultra vires, and placed both yourself personally and your office in contempt of the Constitution and binding judicial orders.
“As Clerk of the National Assembly, you are not an elected member of the Senate. Your functions are purely ministerial: to record, transmit, and implement decisions duly made by the Senate or directed by the courts. To the best of our client’s knowledge, no Senate resolution exists extending our client’s suspension or imposing any new sanction for the same alleged misconduct.”
