Justice Obiora Egwuatu of the Federal High Court, Abuja, has withdrawn from the case challenging the alleged unlawful suspension of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan by the Senate.
His recusal follows allegations of bias raised by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, one of the defendants in the case.
The development comes after the court reversed its earlier ruling from 4 March, which had declared the senator’s suspension unlawful.
Justice Egwuatu had initially granted five reliefs in her favour, including an order nullifying any actions taken by the defendants during the suit.
This ruling stemmed from an ex-parte motion filed by her legal team, led by Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Sanusi Musa.
Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan had sued the Clerk of the National Assembly and the Senate as the 1st and 2nd defendants, while Apabio and Senator Neda Imasuem, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Code of Conduct, were listed as the 3rd and 4th defendants.
On 17 March, the Senate’s lawyer, Chikaosolu Ojukwu, SAN, filed a motion seeking to overturn Order Number Four, which had barred the Senate from carrying out its legislative functions.
He argued that the order could cause a constitutional crisis by violating the separation of powers under Section 4 of the 1999 Constitution.
Justice Egwuatu ruled in favour of the Senate and set aside the order.
He later announced his decision to recuse himself from the case, citing the allegations of bias. The case file will now be reassigned by the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho.
The hearing of all pending applications was originally scheduled for 25 March.
