The Court of Appeal in Abuja has reserved judgment in the appeal and cross-appeal filed by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, and the senator representing Kogi Central Senatorial District, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.
Both senators are challenging some parts of the decision made by the lower court over Akpoti-Uduaghan's suit, which sought to stop the Senate from investigating her for alleged misconduct.
A three-member panel of justices of the appellate court on Friday reserved judgment after counsel for the parties adopted their briefs and argued their appeals.
The Senate President had approached the appellate court to challenge the Federal High Court judgment that invalidated Akpoti-Uduaghan's suspension.
Akpabio's legal team argued that the lower court lacked jurisdiction, insisting that the matter concerned the internal affairs of the National Assembly and was therefore insulated from judicial review under Section 251 of the 1999 Constitution.
The trial court had earlier declared Akpoti-Uduaghan's six-month suspension unconstitutional, excessive and a violation of her constituents' right to representation.
In a notice of cross-appeal dated July 11, Akpabio, through his lead counsel, Kehinde Ogunwumiju, SAN, urged the Court of Appeal to nullify the judgment, describing it as erroneous and a gross miscarriage of justice.
In the 11-ground appeal, he faulted the trial court for dismissing his preliminary objection and issuing orders that, according to him, interfered with parliamentary procedures protected by law.
He argued that issues relating to the suspension of lawmakers, utterances during plenary and Senate resolutions fall within the protective scope of the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act and cannot be subjected to external adjudication.
Akpabio's cross-appeal came two days after Akpoti-Uduaghan filed her own appeal challenging the N5m fine imposed on her by the same court.
The fine stemmed from a contempt ruling delivered by Justice Binta Nyako, who found her guilty of civil contempt over a satirical Facebook post published while her substantive case against the Senate was pending.
In her six-ground appeal, Akpoti-Uduaghan argued that the contempt ruling infringed on her fundamental rights and that the fine had no legal foundation.
The appeals, marked CA/ABJ/CJ/739/2025, CA/ABJ/CJ/1208/2025 and CA/ABJ/CJ/739/2025CA/A//2025, all arose from her rights suit with number FHC/ABJ/CS/384/2025, which sought to stop the Senate from investigating her.
At Friday's hearing, Akpabio -- through his counsel, Eko Ejembi Eko (SAN) -- withdrew one of the cross-appeals on the grounds that it had been overtaken by events since Akpoti-Uduaghan had already resumed her legislative duties.
The Court of Appeal accordingly dismissed the withdrawn appeal.