By Ayo Kehinde
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged Senate President Godswill Akpabio to “immediately rescind the patently unlawful suspension of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, as the purported suspension is based solely on the peaceful exercise of her constitutionally and internationally recognised right to freedom of expression”.
It further urged the Senate to “Immediately reinstate Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan and revise parliamentary procedures that unduly restrict senators’ human rights.”
The Senate, last week, suspended Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan for six months, after she reportedly ‘spoke without permission’ and ‘refused her new seat in the upper legislative chamber.’ Her salary and allowances will not be paid for the duration of the suspension, and she was banned from representing herself as a senator.
In the open letter dated March 8, 2025, and signed by SERAP Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, the organisation said: “No one should ever be punished for ‘speaking without permission.’ Being a senator does not deprive Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan of her fundamental human rights.”
SERAP said, “The Senate should be setting an example by upholding the rule of law and promoting and protecting fundamental human rights, not stamping them out.”
According to SERAP, “Punishing Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan solely for peacefully expressing herself is unlawful, unnecessary and disproportionate. Her suspension would also have a disproportionate chilling effect on the ability of other members of the Senate to freely express themselves and exercise their human rights.
“Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suspension is based solely on the peaceful exercise of her right to freedom of expression in the Senate. All the other grounds cited by the Senate for her suspension seem to be a pretext to further restrict her fundamental human rights.”
