Suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan (Kogi Central) has been criticised for attempting to enforce a court judgment she is simultaneously challenging at the Court of Appeal.
Senior legal practitioner, Ken Harries, made this observation while reacting to the senator’s dramatic appearance at the National Assembly on Tuesday, where she claimed she was seeking to enforce the July 4 judgment of a Federal High Court in Abuja, which she interpreted as ordering her recall to the Senate.
Harries described the action as a classic case of “trying to eat her cake and have it,” pointing out that enforcement of a judgment under appeal is not only legally flawed but also morally questionable.
“In my many years in legal practice, I have not seen such a display of lawlessness from a supposed federal lawmaker,” he said. “How do you invade the National Assembly with a group of touts, claiming to enforce a judgment? There are established procedures for judgment enforcement. It is not a matter for self-help or street activism.”
He recalled that Akpoti-Uduaghan had, about a week ago, filed a formal appeal against the same judgment, faulting its content and urging the Court of Appeal to set it aside.
“If you have condemned a judgment and asked a higher court to reverse it, how then do you turn around to enforce that same judgment?” he asked.
Harries also questioned whether the senator had complied with the parts of the ruling that went against her. “The same judgment she seeks to enforce also ordered her to pay N5 million and publish a public apology in two national newspapers and on her Facebook page. Has she done that?” he queried.
He noted that failure to obey the terms of the judgment weakens her moral standing to accuse others especially the Senate leadership of lawlessness.
“Her legal team ought to advise her better. She should follow due process and respect the rule of law. After all, whoever comes to equity must come with clean hands,” Harries concluded.
