Suspended Senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, appeared at the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Maitama, Abuja, on Thursday for her arraignment over a defamation case.
She arrived at the courtroom around 10:30 a.m., ahead of the scheduled 11:00 a.m. session, as everyone awaited the presiding judge’s arrival.
The case was brought forward by the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Mohammed Abubakar, acting on behalf of the Federal Government, with charges filed against Akpoti-Uduaghan.
In the criminal case with reference number CR/297/25, the Federal Government accuses the senator of making defamatory remarks about Senate President Godswill Akpabio during a televised programme.
According to the charge, the Senate President and former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello are listed as nominal complainants.
The accusation centers on claims that Akpoti-Uduaghan alleged Yahaya Bello colluded with Akpabio in a plot to assassinate her outside the capital city and stage it as a mob-related incident.
The alleged remarks were said to have been made during a live interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today aired on April 3, 2025.
The Federal Government claims that the senator knowingly or recklessly made these statements, being fully aware that they could damage the reputations of the individuals mentioned.
One of her alleged statements during the programme reads:
“Let’s ask the Senate President why in the first instance did he withdraw my security, if not to make me vulnerable to attacks? He then emphasised that I should be killed, but I should be killed in Kogi. What is important to me is to stay alive because dead men tell no tales. Who is going to get justice for me?”
Another part of the charge quotes her as saying:
“That you, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, on or about the 3rd day of April 2025, during the same Politics Today programme on Channels Television in Abuja, Federal Capital Territory, made the following imputation concerning Yahaya Adoza Bello, former Governor of Kogi State.
‘It was part of the meeting, the discussions that Akpabio had with Yahaya Bello that night, to eliminate me. When he met with him, he then emphasised that I should be killed, but I should be killed in Kogi.’
You knew or had reason to believe that such imputations would harm the reputation of Yahaya Adoza Bello, former Governor of Kogi State.”
She is also facing allegations of defaming the Senate President in a separate conversation with Sandra C. Duru in Abuja on March 27, 2025, where she allegedly said:
“That girl that was killed, what’s her name, umm Imoren Iniubong, her organs were actually used for the wife, because the wife was really ill… when they killed the girl, and her organs were used for the wife.”
According to the Federal Government, Akpoti-Uduaghan was or should have been aware that the claim was likely to damage Senator Akpabio’s reputation.
The prosecution has named Akpabio, Yahaya Bello, and four other individuals as witnesses in the case.
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