Senate must allow Natasha back, say ADC, ex-Kaduna AG, Jacobs

By Henry Umoru & Luminous Jannamike

ABUJA—African Democratic Congress, ADC, and former Commissioner of Justice and Attorney-General of Kaduna State, Mark Jacobs, have said the senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, should be allowed to resume at the Senate, following the expiration of her suspension.

They warned that the action of the Senate in obstructing her resumption would further undermined Nigeria’s democracy and discourage women’s political participation.

In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the party accused the Senate leadership of acting illegally and immorally by refusing to allow the Kogi Central lawmaker to resume her duties after completing a six-month suspension.

“The African Democratic Congress, ADC, observes with deep concern the continued obstruction of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan from resuming her seat in the Nigerian Senate after the completion of her six-month suspension.

“We consider this development not only malicious, but also deeply injurious to the spirit of our constitutional democracy, especially the right to dissent,” Abdullahi said.

The party argued that the suspension, having been imposed by the Senate and not a court of law, had fully lapsed and could no longer justify barring the senator.

On his part, Mark Jacobs, who spoke on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief yesterday, argued that the Kogi Central lawmaker did not need the finalisation of a judicial process to resume sitting at the National Assembly.

“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,” the former commissioner said.

The former Kaduna AG accused the Senate of double standards, citing a court verdict that ruled her suspension as unconstitutional.

“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,” Jacobs argued.

He 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.

Jacobs added: “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.

Recall that Senator Akpoti-Uduaghanwas suspended in March over a violation of the Senate’s rules, but she challenged the matter in court in July and made an unsuccessful attempt to resume sitting.

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