The lawyer representing Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan has issued a warning to the acting clerk of the national assembly, Yahaya Danzaria, demanding that he allow the senator return to her legislative duties or face legal consequences.
Her counsel, Michael Numa, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), argued in a letter dated September 10 that preventing her resumption was unlawful.
He stressed that Akpoti-Uduaghan’s six-month suspension, imposed earlier this year, had already lapsed on September 6, 2025.
Numa said his client had formally notified the clerk on August 28 of her intention to resume work on September 4, only to be blocked from entering the national assembly on grounds that the matter was still before the courts.
He dismissed the claim as “a misuse of the rule” designed to undermine her mandate.
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According to the lawyer, the constitution guarantees the senator’s right to return after her suspension expired, and no administrative action could override that.
He also pointed out that a federal high court had earlier barred the senate from further disciplinary steps against her, and Justice Binta Nyako had subsequently ruled the suspension unconstitutional, ordering her reinstatement.
Also, he accused the clerk of engaging in “judicial defiance” and reminded him that his role is purely administrative.
“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,” he wrote.
Numa warned that if Akpoti-Uduaghan is not reinstated by September 15, contempt proceedings and other legal measures would be taken against Danzaria in both his personal and official capacities.
Akpoti-Uduaghan was suspended in February after a confrontation with Senate President Godswill Akpabio. Weeks later, security personnel barred her from accessing the national assembly complex.