Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio to “immediately rescind the patently unlawful suspension of Akpoti-Uduaghan, claiming that it was based “solely on the peaceful exercise of her constitutionally and internationally recognized right to freedom of expression.”
The organisation advised the Senate to immediately reinstate Akpoti-Uduaghan, and revise parliamentary procedures that “unduly restrict senators’ human rights.”
In an open letter dated March 8, 2025 and signed by SERAP deputy director, Kolawole Oluwadare, the organisation said under the constitution, no one should “be punished for ‘speaking without permission,’ adding that 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.
“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.”
It claimed that Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suspension was based solely on the peaceful exercise of her right to freedom of expression in the Senate, as “All the other grounds cited by the Senate for her suspension seem to be a pretext to further restrict her fundamental human rights.”
