The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has called on Senate President Godswill Akpabio and the upper chamber to immediately allow Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan to return to her legislative duties.
In a statement posted on its official X handle on Tuesday, September 9, SERAP insisted that Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suspension had expired on September 4, as indicated in her letter to the Clerk of the National Assembly.
“Senate President Mr Godswill Akpabio and Nigeria’s Senate must immediately allow Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan to resume her legislative duties as indicated in her letter to the clerk of the National Assembly,” SERAP said.
The rights group dismissed claims that the senator’s pending court cases were valid grounds to bar her from resuming.
“The Senate cannot use the pending case(s) in court as a pretext to prevent Mrs Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan from resuming legislative duties. This is antithetical to the fundamental notion of the rule of law,” the statement read.
According to SERAP, “There is no law in Nigeria that prevents the resumption of her legislative duties pending the hearing and determination of the case(s) in court. This travesty of justice must END.”
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It further stressed that barring the Kogi senator from resuming amounted to an abuse of her rights.
“The Senate should not continue to punish Mrs Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan solely for the peaceful exercise of her constitutionally and internationally recognized right to freedom of expression,” it added.
SERAP also demanded the payment of Akpoti-Uduaghan’s salaries and allowances for the period of her suspension, warning that the Senate’s actions undermined both the Nigerian Constitution and international human rights treaties.
“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 stated.
The organisation urged the Senate to “set an example by upholding the rule of law and promoting and protecting fundamental human rights, not stamping them out.”