Court Denies FG’s Arrest Warrant Against Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan

The Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday rejected the Federal Government’s application for an arrest warrant against suspended Kogi Central Senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, over her absence at her arraignment in an alleged defamation case.

Justice Muhammed Umar, who presided over the matter, ruled against the request after government counsel, David Kaswe, informed the court that the charge had only just been served on her lawyer earlier that morning.

The judge held that since the senator had not been previously served with the charge or any notice of hearing, it was unreasonable to expect her presence in court.

Consequently, he declined the prosecution’s request for a bench warrant.

Despite this, the Federal Government’s counsel insisted that Akpoti-Uduaghan should have been aware of the arraignment because her lawyer had received the charge.

Justice Umar dismissed this argument, noting that serving a charge on counsel did not automatically imply that the defendant was aware of the court date.

Following the ruling, the prosecution requested a substituted service through her lawyer, Johnson Usman. The court granted the request and scheduled her arraignment for June 30.

The criminal charge was filed by the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Mohammed Abubakar, on behalf of the Federal Government.

Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan is the sole defendant in the case, in which she is accused of making defamatory remarks during a live television appearance.

The charge lists Senate President Godswill Akpabio and former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello as nominal complainants. It alleges that Akpoti-Uduaghan accused Bello of plotting her assassination in collaboration with Akpabio and disguising it as a local attack outside Abuja.

According to the Federal Government, these statements were made during a live broadcast of Politics Today on Channels Television on April 3, 2025.

The government contends that Akpoti-Uduaghan made the statements either knowingly or recklessly, aware they could damage the reputations of those involved.

She is alleged to have said, “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.”

The prosecution claims that she knew or should have known such statements would damage the reputation of the former governor.

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

The quoted statement reads, “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.”

The government asserts that Akpoti-Uduaghan should have known this statement would harm Akpabio’s reputation.

The prosecution has listed the Senate President, former Governor Bello, and four others as witnesses in the forthcoming trial.