The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has called on Senate President Godswill Akpabio and the Nigerian Senate to allow Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan resume her legislative duties without further delay.
In a statement on Tuesday, SERAP warned that using ongoing court cases as a pretext to prevent Akpoti-Uduaghan from resuming is “a travesty of justice” and a violation of the rule of law.
“Nothing in Nigerian law bars her from resuming legislative duties pending the determination of the case(s) in court,” the group said, insisting that the Senate must respect her letter to the Clerk of the National Assembly, in which she notified her intention to return on September 4, marking the end of her six-month suspension.
SERAP further described the continued denial of her resumption as a breach of her constitutional rights and Nigeria’s international human rights obligations under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
“No one should ever be punished for speaking without permission. Being a senator does not strip Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan of her fundamental human rights,” the group emphasized.
The organization also urged the Senate to pay the senator’s withheld salaries and allowances, stressing that the upper chamber should set an example by protecting human rights and upholding the rule of law rather than undermining them.
