The National Assembly has pushed back demands for the immediate reinstatement of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, insisting that the recent Federal High Court judgment does not compel the Senate or its leadership to act.

This comes as the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, earlier filed a cross-appeal at the Court of Appeal, challenging key rulings that questioned the upper legislative chamber’s authority, and recommended the lawmakers.

In the appeal lodged on July 14, 2025, Akpabio, through his legal team led by Kehinde Ogunwumiju (SAN, argued that the trial court, presided over by Justice Binta Nyako, overstepped its bounds by delving into legislative affairs and making pronouncements that were never sought by the plaintiff in her suit.

In a letter dated July 15, 2025, signed by Charles Yoila, Director of Litigation and Counselling, on behalf of the Clerk to the National Assembly, the Senate made it clear that Justice Nyako’s ruling delivered on July 4 was merely advisory – not an enforceable directive.

“There is no order made… for the Senate, President of the Senate, or National Assembly to comply with,” the letter stated, in response to a demand from Michael Jonathan Numa (SAN), lead counsel to Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan.

ALSO, a legal analyst, Mr. Dayo Fadugba, has dismissed claims that the Federal High Court ordered the recall of the suspended lawmaker, insisting that the Senate is under no legal obligation to act on judicial remarks that did not form part of the court’s binding orders.

Fadugba, in a statement yesterday, described Senator Natasha’s interpretation of the July 4, 2025, judgment as a deliberate misrepresentation of the court’s decision.

He stated that the judgment did not grant any of the reliefs sought by the Kogi Central lawmaker and that the Senate remains fully within its rights not to act on what he called “mere judicial commentary.”