Court Date Set for Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan in Defamation Case Involving Senate President Akpabio

The suspended Kogi Central Senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, is set to appear before the Federal Capital Territory High Court on Tuesday, June 3, 2025, to answer criminal defamation charges brought against her by the Federal Government.

Her lead lawyer, West Idahosa (SAN), confirmed the court summons but remained unsure whether the government intends to arraign her immediately. He assured that Akpoti-Uduaghan would comply fully with the court’s orders, underscoring her status as a law-abiding citizen.

The charges allege that during a televised interview on Channels TV’s Politics Today on April 3, 2025, Akpoti-Uduaghan accused Senate President Godswill Akpabio and former Governor Yahaya Bello of plotting her assassination. The charge sheet quotes 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.”

Further allegations arise from a private phone conversation on March 27, 2025, where she purportedly linked Akpabio to organ harvesting connected to the late Iniubong Umoren, allegedly benefiting his sick wife.

The Federal Government, through Director of Public Prosecutions Mohammed Abubakar, filed the charges on May 16, 2025, under case number CR/297/25. Akpabio, Bello, and four others are named as witnesses.

Idahosa reiterated the legal team’s preparedness to contest the charges in court and dismissed protests as unrelated to their legal defense. “Our client is a law-abiding citizen. Why wouldn’t she be there? It’s a summons we have undertaken,” he said.

He also commented on the uncertainty surrounding arraignment, saying the government had amended the charges once and might do so again at their discretion.