**A former Publicity Secretary of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Benin Branch, Douglas Ogbankwa, has faulted the suspension of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan by the Senate, describing it as a case of “double standards.”**
Speaking on Channels Television’s breakfast programme _The Morning Brief,_ Ogbankwa argued that the Senate acted improperly by suspending the lawmaker while her case was still before the court.
“One thing that is important is to follow the sequence of events. Both parties have been in arbitrance to the law one way or the other. While she was still in court, the Senate proceeded to pronounce the suspension on her. As far as I’m concerned, that is double standards,” he told the morning show crew on Wednesday.
Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan, who represents Kogi Central, was suspended for six months on March 6, 2025, after a heated confrontation in the chamber.
The Senate accused her of breaching its rules, but the lawmaker has since challenged the action in court, insisting her rights and those of her constituents were violated.
But Ogbankwa maintained that though the Senator’s conduct in the chamber was unbecoming, the Senate had no constitutional authority to suspend her.
“The Senate as an institution has no power to suspend Senator Natasha for six months. This is because a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is not an employee of the Senate. Such a senator is a representative of his or her people,” he said.
According to him, the 1999 Constitution, as amended, is clear that each of the 109 senatorial districts in Nigeria must be represented at all times, a principle he said the suspension undermines.
Citing precedents, the lawyer recalled a 2017 Court of Appeal judgment which voided the suspension of members of the Kaduna State House of Assembly, affirming that elected legislators cannot be shut out of parliament by their colleagues.
“The relationship between a member of the legislative house and the legislative house is not that of employer and employee,” he argued.
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At the same time, Ogbankwa blamed Akpoti-Uduaghan for ignoring the Senate rules during the confrontation. He noted that by parliamentary procedure, a lawmaker must occupy the seat assigned by the Senate President before making contributions on the floor.
“She made a vital slip. She should have first gone to the seat allocated to her by the Senate President and from there addressed the Senate President. In any case, the language of the parliament must be used when addressing the leader of the house,” he said.
The latest twist came a few months after Akpoti-Uduaghan insisted that she would resume at the Senate on Tuesday, the 22nd of July 2025, in line with a court judgement, despite an appeal by Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
She [attempted to return to the National Assembly](https://www.channelstv.com/2025/07/22/senator-natasha-denied-entry-into-national-assembly/) on the same day but was unable to gain entry to the chambers.
With September 4, making it six months since her suspension, the Kogi lawmaker wrote to the Senate, informing it of her intention to resume duties.
However, in a letter by the Acting Clerk of the National Assembly, Yahaya Danzaria, dated September 4, 2025, the Senate acknowledged Akpoti-Uduaghan’s notification of her intended return on September 4.
The upper chamber said her matter will be treated by the lawmaker pending the outcome of the court case.