Suspended Senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, has arrived at the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Maitama, Abuja, for her arraignment on defamation charges.
She entered the courtroom around 10:30 a.m., ahead of the 11:00 a.m. session, awaiting the arrival of the presiding judge.
The criminal charge, marked CR/297/25, was filed by the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Mohammed Abubakar, on behalf of the Federal Government.
The case stems from alleged defamatory comments made by the senator during a live television appearance.
According to the charge, Akpoti-Uduaghan is accused of making damaging statements against Senate President Godswill Akpabio and former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello during a live interview on Politics Today, aired on Channels Television on April 3, 2025.
The Federal Government alleges that she falsely claimed Akpabio and Bello conspired to have her assassinated, suggesting the plan was to stage her death as a mob attack outside Abuja.
The charge states she 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.”
She also reportedly alleged that the plan to eliminate her was discussed between Akpabio and Bello:
“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 prosecution further alleges that during a separate telephone conversation on March 27, 2025, with Sandra C. Duru, Akpoti-Uduaghan made another defamatory claim involving Akpabio.
She allegedly said the organs of a murdered young woman, Iniubong Umoren, were used for Akpabio’s ailing wife.
The Federal Government contends that these claims were made with full knowledge of their potential to damage the reputations of the individuals involved.
Senate President Akpabio, former Governor Bello, and four others are expected to testify as witnesses in the case.