Alleged defamation: Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan To Appear In Court On Tuesday

Ufuoma Omojirhe

Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan (Kogi Central) is set to appear in court on (Today) Tuesday as directed by the judiciary.

Akpoti-Uduaghan’s appearance was confirmed by her lead counsel, West Idahosa (SAN) stressing that his client would comply with the court directive as a law-abiding citizen.

Idahosa said that they are unaware as to whether the Federal Government intends to formally arraign the senator on that day.

“Whatever the plans of the Federal Government may be, she will honour the court’s invitation,” he said.

The Federal Government, through the Director of Public Prosecutions, Mohammed Abubakar, had filed criminal charges against Akpoti-Uduaghan.

The allegation was that she made defamatory statements during a live television broadcast and a private telephone conversation reportedly targeted the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio and former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello.

According to the charge, filed on May 16, 2025, at the Federal Capital Territory High (FCT) Court and marked CR/297/25, Akpoti-Uduaghan is accused of making a statement during an appearance on Politics Today on Channels TV on April 3, 2025, where she alleged that Akpabio and Bello discussed plans to assassinate her.

“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 in Kogi,” the charge quotes her as saying.

Additionally, the government accused Akpoti-Uduaghan of making defamatory remarks in a telephone conversation on March 27, 2025.

In the conversation with a woman named Dr Sandra Duru, Akpoti-Uduaghan allegedly claimed that Akpabio was linked to organ harvesting involving the late Iniubong Umoren, purportedly for the benefit of his ailing wife.

Akpabio, Bello, and four others have been listed as key witnesses in the trial.

Idahosa reiterated the readiness of the legal team to defend Akpoti-Uduaghan in court

 “Our client is a law-abiding citizen. Why wouldn’t she be there? It’s a summons we have undertaken. Only disrespectful institutions that disregard court orders would fail to appear, and she is not in that category,” he said.

 “We don’t know. We saw a notice of amended charges. We don’t know what they are trying to do. They’ve amended the charges once and could do so again—it’s their decision.”