The Federal High Court in Abuja has imposed a ₦5 million fine on Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, representing Kogi Central, after finding her guilty of contempt over a satirical Facebook post directed at Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
Okay.ng reports that Justice Binta Nyako delivered the ruling on Friday while presiding over Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suit challenging her suspension from the Senate.
The contempt proceedings stemmed from a post the senator published on her Facebook page on April 27, 2025, which Akpabio’s legal team argued violated a court order that barred all parties from making public comments about the matter.
In his application, Akpabio, who is the third respondent in the case, asked the court to hold Akpoti-Uduaghan in contempt for disobeying the directive that prohibited media engagement or social media commentary related to the lawsuit.
The senator’s counsel, however, contended that the post was unrelated to the suspension case and instead referred to a separate allegation of sexual harassment involving the Senate President.
But in her judgment, Justice Nyako held that the post was sufficiently tied to the suspension dispute and ruled that the senator had breached the court’s instructions.
In addition to the ₦5 million fine, Akpoti-Uduaghan was ordered to publish a formal apology on her Facebook page and in two national newspapers within seven days.
This ruling comes amid ongoing legal troubles for the senator, who is also the defendant in two separate cases of cybercrime and defamation, both currently pending before different courts in Abuja.
