- The court held that the said apology, which she published on her Facebook page on April 7, amounted to disparagement of the injunction that had been placed on the parties by the court.
The embattled lawmaker representing Kogi Central, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, has been found guilty of contempt.
The senator, who is currently suspended from the upper legislative chamber, was found guilty by the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Friday.
The verdict was handed down by the presiding judge, Justice Binta Nyako, who ruled that the lawmaker disregarded the court order by posting a satirical apology to the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.
The court held that the said apology, which she published on her Facebook page on April 7, amounted to disparagement of the injunction that had been placed on the parties by the court.
Consequently, Justice Nyako ordered Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan to, within seven days, tender an apology to the court. The apology must be published in two national dailies and also on her Facebook page.
The court equally ordered her to pay a N5 million fine, stressing that her contempt was in a civil proceeding.
Even though the court’s decision followed a contempt action initiated by Senator Akpabio, it declined to issue any order in his favour.
In a related development, the court ordered the immediate recall of Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan.
It ruled that the Senate’s six-month suspension of the senator was “excessive” and lacked clear legal backing.
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