In a legal blow to Senate President Godswill Akpabio, the Court of Appeal in Abuja has struck out two motions he filed in an ongoing case involving Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan and imposed a ₦100,000 fine against him after he sought to withdraw both filings.
The ruling, delivered on 21 May 2025 by a three-member panel led by Justice Hamman Barka, followed Akpabio’s application to discontinue the motions originally filed in March.
The Court granted the withdrawal, struck out the motions, and awarded costs to Akpoti-Uduaghan, who is the first respondent in the case. The entire appeal was also expunged from court records.
Akpabio had filed motions on 3 and 25 March 2025 under suit numbers CV/395/M1/2025 and CV/395/M2/2025, respectively, in connection to a Federal High Court judgment (FHC/ABJ/CS/384/2025) delivered on 10 March 2025.
The Senate President sought leave to appeal the High Court’s ruling, requested an extension of time to file his notice of appeal, and applied for a stay of proceedings at the lower court.
However, the Court of Appeal granted his request to withdraw the motions.
Court’s Ruling and Sanction
Justice Barka, delivering the ruling, stated: “Application seeking to withdraw the two motions dated and filed on 20/3/2025 and 25/3/2025 is granted, and the motions are struck out. Costs of ₦100,000 are awarded to the 1st Respondent.”
The appeal itself, marked CA/ABJ/PRE/ROA/CV/395M/2025, was also ordered to be deleted from the court’s record, effectively nullifying Akpabio’s efforts to challenge the lower court’s ruling.
Alongside Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, other respondents included the Clerk of the National Assembly, the Senate, and Senator Neda Imasuen, who chairs the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Petitions.
