Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who represents Kogi Central in Nigeria’s Senate, is challenging part of a judgment from a Federal High Court in Abuja that found her guilty of contempt of court.
In a document dated July 9, she officially appealed the ruling that convicted her of contempt and fined her N5 million.
Through her lawyer, Roland Otaru, the senator asked the Court of Appeal to cancel the order asking her to publish a public apology.
It had earlier been reported that Justice Binta Nyako found her guilty of ignoring a court order that warned all parties not to speak about the case in the media. The court said she went against the order by posting a satirical apology to Senate President Akpabio on Facebook in April.
As punishment, Justice Nyako ordered her to say sorry in two national newspapers and on her Facebook page within seven days, and also pay a N5 million fine.
In her appeal, Senator Akpoti argued that the court had no authority to handle the contempt issue because the act was done outside the courtroom.
“The trial court lacked the requisite jurisdiction to entertain an alleged contempt ex facie curiae involving the imposition of fine which is criminal in nature, against her own orders without compliance with the proper criminal procedure and provision contained in the Sheriffs and Civil Processes Act,” the senator said in her appeal.
Her appeal is based on six points. She believes the judge was wrong to assume the power to try her and punish her without going through the proper criminal process.
She explained that the post in question was made on her Facebook page, which, she said, is outside the direct reach of the court. She also said that another judge, not the one handling the main case, should have treated it as a separate criminal matter.
“The proper procedure for contempt committed ex facie curiae is to proceed against the alleged contemnor by the regular procedure of the criminal trial before another judge,” the appeal stated.
The senator also said her right to a fair hearing was violated because the judge didn’t follow the rules set out under the Sheriffs and Civil Processes Act.
She criticized the court for saying her April 27 Facebook apology was contemptuous. She argued that the apology was about a sexual harassment issue involving the Senate President and wasn’t related to the case in court.
“The sexual harassment allegation was not before the trial court. The liability as adjudged by the trial judge against the appellant with respect to a subject matter unrelated to the judicial proceedings before her ladyship was erroneous and, indeed, perverse.”the appeal in part read
According to her, the statement she made did not interfere with the case and should not have been treated as contempt.
Finally, she argued that the N5 million fine was unfair because the person who filed the complaint did not even ask the court to issue such a punishment.
“The law is settled that the court and indeed the parties are bound by the reliefs sought on the face of the application. The decision of the trial judge to substitute 3rd respondent’s reliefs sought with her own orders extraneous to the motion paper amounts to descending into the arena of conflict which occasioned a miscarriage of justice.”
Senator Natasha is now asking the Court of Appeal to cancel Justice Nyako’s judgment in case number FHC/ABJ/CS/384/2025, which was delivered on July 4, 2025.
