SERAP asks Akpabio to rescind suspension of Akpoti-Uduaghan 

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged the Senate President Mr Godswill Akpabio to immediately rescind the suspension of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, saying the suspension was based solely on the peaceful exercise of her constitutionally and internationally recognized right to freedom of expression.

SERAP said, “The Senate should immediately reinstate Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan, and revise parliamentary procedures that unduly restrict senators’ human rights.”

In the open letter dated 8 March 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.”

SERAP also said, “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.”