The battle between the president of the Senate and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan escalated further on Monday as seventy constituents of the embattled senator from the six local government areas that make up Kogi Central petitioned the president of the senate, Godswill Akpabio, the senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele and the chairman of the senate Committee on Ethics, privileges and Public petitions, Senator Neda Imasuen before the Code of conduct Bureau over alleged abuse of office.
In a petition addressed to the chairman of the Code of Conduct Bureau signed by seventy constituents and obtained exclusively by Whitewaterdigest, the constituents accused the president of the Senate, the Senate leader, and the chairman of the committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Public petitions of contravening section 4(8) of the 1999 constitution.
“Mr Chairman sir”, the petition reads; “we will like to draw your attention to the provisions of Paragraph 9 of the fifth schedule of the 1999 constitution of Nigeria in respect of the code of conduct of public officers which provides that a public officer shall not do or direct to be done, in abuse of his office, any arbitrary act, prejudicial to the rights if any other person knowing that such act is unlawful or contrary to any government policy.
“On the 4th March, 2025, the senator representing our senatorial district, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan secured an interim order of injunction from the federal high court restraining the chairman of the senate committee on Ethics, privileges and Code of Conduct, Sen. Neda Imasuen from proceeding with the purported investigation against senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan for alleged misconduct sequel to the events that occurred at the plenary of the senate on the 20th February, 2025 pending the hearing of a motion on notice for interlocutory injunction. Despite being served with the said court order.
Sen. Neda Imasuen disregarded the said court order claiming that the court cannot interfere with the functions of the senate knowing that such is not correct in view of provisions of section 4 (8) of the 1999 constitution of Nigeria which provides that the exercise of the legislative powers of the National Assembly SHALL be subject to the jurisdiction of the court of law and judicial tribunal established by law. The said Senator Imasuen proceeded to conduct the proceedings of the Ethics Committee contrary to an extant order of court served on parties to suit no: FHC/ABJ/CS/384/2025 SENATOR NATASHA Akpoti-Uduaghan VS Clerk of National Assembly.
See the petition below.
