Breaking: Justice Egwuatu Steps Down From Natasha’s Case

The judge presiding over the suspended Senator representing Kogi Centre Senatorial District, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, Justice Obiora Egwuatu of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday said he has stepped down from a case.

CityMirrorNews gathered that Justice Egwuatu who was assigned to hear the suit announced he would no longer handle the matter after Senate President Godswill Akpabio wrote a petition questioning his impartiality.

Although the case was scheduled for hearing, when the court clerk called it up, the judge ruled that he was stepping aside.

According to him, he would return the case file to the Chief Judge, who would reassign it to another judge.

It would be recalled that on March 4, Justice Egwuatu issued an interim order stopping the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Petitions from proceeding with disciplinary actions against Akpoti-Uduaghan which she was accused of violating Senate rules.

The judge ruled that the disciplinary process should not continue until the case was decided.

He also gave the defendants 72 hours to explain why the court should not stop them from investigating the senator without following the rules laid out in the 1999 Constitution, the Senate Standing Order 2023, and the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act.

Justice Egwuatu allowed the senator to serve legal documents on the defendants using substituted means.

The court ordered that the documents be given to the Clerk of the National Assembly or pasted at the National Assembly premises.

They were also to be published in two national newspapers. The interim order came after the senator filed an urgent application.

However, despite the court’s ruling, the Senate Committee still held its meeting and suspended her for six months.