Inspector General of Police Kayode Egbetokun Any attempt to topple a nation’s leadership or jeopardize the welfare of a state to whom one owes loyalty is considered treason. The Senate’s actions regarding Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan on Thursday, March 6, 2025, amount to a flagrant act of treason and suspension of the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution.CONTINUE FULL READING>>>>>
According to Section 249 of the Criminal Code Act of 2004, “Any person who does an act which is likely to cause a breach of the peace, or who does an act which, in the circumstances in which it is done, is likely to cause fear or alarm to the public, or to any particular person, is guilty of a misdemeanor and is liable to imprisonment for one month.”Due to their unconstitutional exclusion from the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for six months, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s constituents in Kogi Central may take matters into their own hands, likely resulting in a breach of public peace.
The Senate suspended Kogi Central representative Mrs. Natasha Apoti-Uduaghan for six months at a plenary session on Thursday, March 6, 2025. During the suspension, all of her security assistants would be fired, and her pay and benefits would also be discontinued. She actually has to turn over all Senate property in her possession to the Clerk and refrain from entering the National Assembly’s grounds!
The senator received harsh criticism for her refusal to take her new seat during the plenary on February 20, 2025, because she felt that the new seating arrangement, which was announced without her previous knowledge, infringed upon her privileges. The first incorrect assumption that our nation frequently makes is that Section 1(2) of the Constitution forbids military control. This is regrettable. “The Federal Republic of Nigeria shall not be governed … except in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution,” states the core of s.1(2) of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution.
The 1999 Constitution (as modified) states unequivocally in Sections 47 and 48: “A Senate and a House of Representatives will make up the National Assembly for the Federation.” “Three senators from each state and one from Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, will make up the Senate.”
According to the Constitution’s Section 1(3), The provisions of this Constitution shall have precedence over any other law, including Senate Standing Rules, and the other law shall be declared void to the extent of the inconsistency. Section 287 of the 1999 Constitution (as modified) states that 287. “(1) All authorities and individuals, as well as courts with subordinate jurisdiction to that of the Supreme Court, shall enforce the decisions of the Supreme Court in any part of the Federation.”
(2) All authorities and individuals, as well as courts with subordinate jurisdiction to the Court of Appeal’s, shall enforce the Court of Appeal’s decisions in any part of the Federation.” (3) All authorities and individuals, as well as other courts of law with subordinate jurisdiction to the Federal High Court, a High Court, and those other courts, shall enforce the decisions of the Federal High Court, a High Court, and all other courts established by this Constitution in any part of the Federation.
The Constitution’s Section 6 grants the Nigerian courts judicial authority. It is blatantly illegal for the National Assembly or a state’s House of Assembly to suspend a lawmaker. A number of Nigerian courts have ruled against the suspension of lawmakers; the locus classicus in this case is Speaker, Bauchi State House of Assembly vs. Hon. Rifkatu Samson Danna (2017) 49 W.R.N. Since the legislator is a representative of a constituency recognized by the Constitution, the Court of Appeal ruled that there is no master-servant relationship between the legislature (House of Assembly or National Assembly) and a lawmaker. This ruling is the current law in Nigeria.
The appellate court further declared that “under Section 111 of the Constitution, the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission, not the first and second appellants, is in charge of fixing the respondent’s (Hon Danna) salaries and wages.” The respondent’s salary and benefits as a member of the Bauchi State House of Assembly are not subject to interference from the first and second appellants, the Speaker of Bauchi and the House of Assembly, respectively. These rights and privileges granted to an elected member of the House of Assembly cannot be taken away by any of the Rules or Standing Orders of the Bauchi State House of Assembly.
Therefore, the Senate’s Standing Rules and Orders regarding the suspension of lawmakers and their salaries are void from the beginning since they violate Nigeria’s Constitution and are not enshrined in any national law. The Constitution requires the IGP to provide police protection for Senator Natasha while she conducts her legislative duties in the National Assembly the following week. However, the Constitution also requires the IGP to arrest and prosecute Senate leadership members for actions that are likely to cause a breach of the peace.
Parliamentary immunity does not apply to egregious violations of the law or attacks on the Nigerian Constitution. The people of Kogi Central elected Senator Apoti-Uduaghan to the Upper Chamber to represent them, and the Senate is not allowed by the constitution to “unvote” him. The Senate’s (leadership’s) actions against Senator Apoti-Uduaghan are mind-blowing and totally out of line; they are reminiscent of the abhorrent military dictatorship. After overcoming the military’s burden, we are now subject to parliamentary tyranny.CONTINUE FULL READING>>>>>
