Court Declines FG’s Request to Arrest Senator Natasha Over Defamation Charges

The Federal High Court in Abuja has rejected a request by the Federal Government to issue a bench warrant for the arrest of suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan over an alleged defamation case.

Justice Muhammed Umar gave the ruling on Monday after federal government counsel, David Kaswe, told the court that the criminal charge had been served on the senator’s lawyer earlier that morning within the courtroom.

However, Justice Umar ruled that since Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan had not been personally served with the charge or a notice of hearing beforehand, it would be unreasonable to expect her appearance in court. As a result, he dismissed the application for a bench warrant.

Kaswe argued that the senator ought to have known about the court proceedings since her lawyer had been served. The judge, however, maintained that serving a charge on legal counsel does not automatically imply that the defendant is aware of the arraignment.

Following this, the prosecution applied for substituted service of the charge via her lawyer, Johnson Usman. The court granted the application and adjourned the arraignment to June 30, 2025.

The case, filed by the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Mohammed Abubakar, accuses Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan of making defamatory remarks during a live television interview.

In the charge, the senator is alleged to have made damaging statements against Senate President Godswill Akpabio and former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello during a live broadcast of Politics Today on Channels Television on April 3, 2025.

She allegedly claimed that Bello and Akpabio conspired to have her assassinated outside Abuja and make the killing appear as a mob attack. One of her statements read:

“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.”

In another portion of the charge, she allegedly stated:

“It was part of the meeting, the discussions that Akpabio had with Yahaya Bello that night, to eliminate me… He then emphasised that I should be killed, but I should be killed in Kogi.”

The Federal Government contends that these statements were knowingly false or made with reckless disregard for the truth and were intended to damage the reputations of the individuals involved.

Additionally, Akpoti-Uduaghan is accused of making defamatory remarks about Senate President Akpabio during a telephone conversation with Sandra C. Duru on March 27, 2025, in Abuja. She allegedly claimed:

“That girl that was killed… 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.”

The prosecution maintains that the senator should have known that such claims would harm Akpabio’s reputation.

Senate President Akpabio, former Governor Yahaya Bello, and four others have been listed as prosecution witnesses in the upcoming trial.