The Federal High Court in Abuja, on Friday, found Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, the suspended lawmaker representing Kogi Central Senatorial District, guilty of contempt of court.
Justice Binta Nyako, who presided over the case, ruled that Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan violated a subsisting court order by publishing a satirical apology directed at the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio. The apology was posted on her official Facebook page on April 7.
The court held that the statement mocked a judicial gag order previously issued to restrain all parties from making public comments on the matter. Justice Nyako noted that the senator’s post ridiculed the authority of the court and constituted civil contempt.
In consequence, the court ordered Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan to publish a formal apology in two national newspapers and also repost it on her Facebook page within seven days. Additionally, she was fined the sum of ₦5 million for her actions.
Although the contempt proceedings were initiated by Senator Akpabio, the court declined to issue any direct relief in his favour.
In a related development, the court proceeded to deliver judgment in a separate case filed by Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan challenging the six-month suspension imposed on her by the Senate. Details of that ruling are expected to be made public shortly.
The controversy stems from a viral post made by the senator, in which she offered what appeared to be a satirical apology to Senate President Akpabio. In the statement titled “Fearless, Unbought, and Unbroken”, she suggested she had come to realize that in politics, advancement is often based on compliance with powerful figures rather than merit.
Her post read, in part: “I have reflected extensively on my unforgivable failure to recognize that legislative success in certain quarters is apparently not earned through merit, but through the ancient art of compliance – of the very personal kind.
“How remiss of me not to understand that my refusal to indulge your… “requests” was not merely a personal choice, but a constitutional violation of the unwritten laws of certain men’s entitlement.”
IREPORT247NEWS recalls that the senator went further in the post to ask for forgiveness, sarcastically referencing that she may have mistakenly assumed her position in the Senate was earned through elections, and not through erections—a comment widely interpreted as mockery of the political system and its leaders. Read here
The matter has sparked significant debate on the boundaries of political satire, freedom of expression, and respect for judicial orders. Further updates are anticipated.