Justice Obiora Egwuatu of the Federal High Court in Abuja has stepped down from a case involving suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.
The judge, originally assigned to handle the suit, announced on Tuesday that he would no longer preside over the matter. This decision followed a petition from Senate President Godswill Akpabio, who raised concerns about the judge’s impartiality.
The case was scheduled for hearing, but when the court clerk called it up, Justice Egwuatu declared his decision to recuse himself and stated that he would return the case file to the Chief Judge for reassignment to another judge.
Earlier, on March 4, Justice Egwuatu had issued an interim order halting the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Petitions from taking disciplinary action against Akpoti-Uduaghan, who was accused of breaching Senate rules.
The judge ruled that the disciplinary process could not continue until the case was concluded. Additionally, the defendants were given 72 hours to justify why the court should not halt their investigation of the senator for failing to comply with the 1999 Constitution, Senate Standing Order 2023, and the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act.
In connection with this, the senator was allowed to serve legal documents using substituted means, such as by delivering them to the Clerk of the National Assembly, posting them on the premises of the National Assembly, or publishing them in two national newspapers.
Despite this court order, the Senate Committee went ahead with its meeting and suspended the senator for six months. Subsequently, following an application from the defendants, Justice Egwuatu amended his previous order, lifting the restriction on the Senate’s actions during the ongoing case.
Akpabio’s legal team, led by Kehinde Ogunwumiju, questioned the court’s authority to intervene in Senate affairs.
