The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Maitama, Abuja, on Thursday granted bail to the suspended Senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, in the sum of ₦50 million, with one surety who must be a person of reasonable integrity residing in the FCT and owning landed property within the Abuja Municipal Area Council.
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Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan was arraigned before the court over a criminal defamation charge filed by the Federal Government through the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Mohammed Abubakar.
The charge, marked CR/297/25, accuses the senator of making defamatory statements against Senate President Godswill Akpabio and former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello, during a live television appearance on Channels TV’s Politics Today programme aired on April 3, 2025.
The Senator arrived at the courtroom around 10:30 a.m., ahead of the hearing scheduled for 11:00 a.m., and awaited the presiding judge.
The charge alleges that Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan falsely claimed on national television that Senator Akpabio and ex-Governor Bello conspired to orchestrate her assassination, aiming to disguise it as a mob attack outside Abuja.
Quoting the alleged defamatory remarks, the prosecution stated:
“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.”
She is also quoted as having said:
“It was part of the meeting, the discussions that Akpabio had with Yahaya Bello that night, to eliminate me… He emphasised that I should be killed, but I should be killed in Kogi.”
Additionally, the Federal Government alleges that in a telephone conversation on March 27, 2025, with one Sandra C. Duru, Akpoti-Uduaghan made damaging claims about Akpabio concerning the death of a young woman, Iniubong Umoren, stating:
“That girl that was killed… her organs were actually used for the wife, because the wife was really ill.”
The prosecution maintains that the senator knew or ought to have known that such statements were false and damaging to the reputation of both Akpabio and Bello.
Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan is the sole defendant in the suit. Senate President Akpabio, former Governor Yahaya Bello, and four others have been listed as witnesses in the trial.
Meanwhile, a similar matter is also lodged before Justice Muhammed Umar, of the Federal High Court in Abuja.
While Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan was slated for arraignment before Justice Umar, she, however, did not appear for the arraignment since the prosecution had not been able to serve her as stated in court.
The prosecution, however, applied for a bench warrant to be issued on the suspended senator, which the court refused.
At the commencement of the hearing, the counsel to the Attorney General of the Federation, David Kaswe, told the Court that the matter is for arraignment of the defendant (Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan).
Natasha was docked, and the three-count read to her. She pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
Akpoti-Uduaghan’s legal team, led by Professor Roland Otaru (SAN), afterwards informed the Court that a bail application filed on May 27 has been submitted to the court.
Kaswe, however, informed the court that the Federal Government is opposing the bail application and called the attention of the judge to a counter-affidavit filed before the court to this effect.
He proceeded to ask the court to remand the Kogi Senator to prison as she poses a flight risk. He said, “In view of the charge, we will be asking for a remand in a correctional facility.
The defence counsel, however, interjected, stating, “We already filed an application for bail. We are in a court of law for Justice. We have a motion on Notice dated May 27, 2025. You represent the Ministry of Justice, not the Ministry of Injustice.
“If your lordship graciously will, we urge your lordship to grant the bail application. This is a case where your lordship has the discretion to grant bail, and nobody can query it, not even the president can query it. Even on self-recognition because it is not a case of murder.”
Referencing the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, Otaru added that anybody who is charged with a criminal offence shall be presumed innocent until proven guilty. “And she pleaded not guilty. As she is standing there, she is innocent until proven otherwise,” he added.
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