The Court of Appeal Abuja has affirmed that the Senate was right and acted within its powers in suspending Senator Natash Akpoti-Uduaghan, who represents Kogi Central Senatorial District at the Senate, for misconduct.
In a unanimous decision by a three-member panel of Justices, the Court of Appeal said it was satisfied that neither the appellant’s parliamentary privilege nor her constitutional rights were breached as a result of her suspension from the Senate.
However, the court vacated the contempt proceeding and ₦5 million fine that were awarded against Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan over the satirical apology she made to the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.
Justice Abba Muhammed, who delivered the lead judgement, the court held that the Senate President was not wrong to have denied the Kogi Senator, who was not on the official seat that was allotted to her during plenary on February 20, 2025, the opportunity to speak.
Also, the court held that the Senate President is empowered by the Rules to allocate seats to members, adding that lawmakers are only allowed to speak from seats allocated to them.
Dele Fashomi, seasoned journalist and communication teacher, is a holder of Master of Arts degree in Communication and Language Arts from the University of Ibadan in 1992/93.
Earlier, he had bagged a Bachelor degree from the same university in 1984, after which he proceeded to the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Lagos, in 1990, for a postgraduate diploma in Journalism.
He had done many courses in communication, including the EU-BBC Editing Course in 2002.
Mr. Fashomi combines effectively the practice, research and teaching of communication. And to date, he has published two academic works in communication: Issues in Communication Technology and Policy (2010) and Economic and Social Issues in Advertising and PR (2013).
He had his first break in the Nigerian media in Concord Newspapers in 1990 and today, he has over two and half decades experience earned in several newspapers.
He has been part of many start-ups, such as The Republic (1987), The Comet (1999), The Anchor 2001 – 2002; Sun Newspapers (2003); Westerner newsmagazine (2005 – 2010) as Editor; National Life (2011) as Sunday Editor, and Newswatch Newspapers (2012- 2016) as Daily Editor.
Dele Fashomi is now the Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Newstide247.com newspaper online, which he started in July 2015. He is also into biography writing, with many books in his trail, some of which he wrote alone and one he co- authored with his mentor, Mr Dare Babarinsa, entitled: Olabiyi Durojaiye – DARE TO BE DiFFERENT. He also guided and collaborated with Pa Olatunji Odusanya in writing his autobiography – AGAINST ALL ODDS. There are many other books in the works under his pen.
