Womanifesto, a coalition of over 300 women’s rights organisations across Nigeria, has condemned in the strongest terms the continued exclusion of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan from the Nigerian Senate.
In a release made available to the media by the Executive Director WARDC, Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi, on behalf of the group, the NGOs regretted that the Senate leadership and National Assembly management have denied Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan re-entry despite the fact that she had fully served what it described as an illegal term.
The release, therefore, reads in parts: “This brazen defiance of judicial authority is more than an institutional misstep; it is a dangerous constitutional overreach that erodes the very foundation of our democracy. When lawmakers become lawbreakers, democracy itself is imperilled.
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“We must be clear that Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan’s exclusion is not just about one woman. It is about the rights of an entire constituency deprived of representation for over six months.
“It is about the Senate arrogating to itself powers it does not have. It is about a judiciary whose authority is being mocked in plain sight. And it is about how those entrusted with public power are turning the law into a weapon to silence dissent and protect entrenched privilege.
“For Nigerian women, the stakes are even higher. This is a deliberate attack on women’s political participation. To deny Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan her constitutional mandate after a lawful election victory and a favorable court ruling is to send a chilling message to every woman who dares to seek or hold public office: your voice can be silenced at will.’’
In addition, the NGOs stated: “We reject the Senate’s reliance on spurious claims and delay tactics that subvert the Constitution and breach the rule of law.
“We demand her immediate and unconditional reinstatement in full compliance with the court order.
“We warn that his abuse of legislative power is not only unconstitutional but also a direct assault on Nigeria’s fragile democratic foundations and the rights of half its population, women.
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“This is a defining moment. Either the Senate rescinds this illegality and restores Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan to her rightful place, or it confirms itself as a body willing to destroy democracy for the sake of impunity.”
However, the coalition urged the citizens, civil society, the media, and the international community to recognise that this is not merely a personal quarrel, but a collective test of whether Nigerians will allow democracy to die in the hands of those sworn to protect it.
“Democracy dies when elected voices are silenced. Democracy dies when women are deliberately excluded. Democracy dies when courts are mocked, and the Constitution treated as optional.
“Womanifesto refuses silence in the face of this assault. We stand firm that Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan must return to the Senate immediately. Anything less is a betrayal of democracy, justice, and the Nigerian people,” the group noted.
