Akpoti-Uduaghan charged with criminal defamation over assassination plot claim against Akpabio, Bello

Kogi Central senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, has been charged over her allegation that Senate President Godswill Akpabio and former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello conspired to assassinate her.

The Department of Public Prosecutions of the Federation (DPPF), Federal Ministry of Justice, filed the charges against her on 16 May at the FCT High Court in Abuja.

The case marked: CR/297/25, has the Federal Republic of Nigeria as the complainant and Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan as the sole defendant.

Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan, who was suspended from the Senate in March for six months, faces criminal defamation charges over the  claim she made in a televised interview alleging that Messrs Akpabio and Bello conspired to assassinate her.

She made the remarks on 3 April, when she appeared on Channels Television’s Politics Today.

M.B Abubakar, the Director of DDPF, who signed the charges, stated that the senator made the assassination “imputation” knowing or having reason to believe that it would harm the reputations of Messrs Akpabio and Bello.

She was charged under Section 391 of the Penal Code Law, Cap 89, Laws of the Federation, 1990, which criminalises imputations made with the intent or knowledge that they could harm a person’s reputation.

If convicted, Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan faces up to two years in prison, a fine, or both, as prescribed in the law.

Televised allegations

During the interview, Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan claimed her life was in danger following the withdrawal of her security details as a senator.

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She directly accused Messrs Akpabio and Bello of plotting her assassination.

“I am glad you did admit that I am a lawyer, and even if I am not a lawyer, I am a sane individual, and I do stand by what I said. In respect to the meeting or discussion Akpabio had [with] Yahaya Bello that night to eliminate me,” she was quoted as saying in the excerpts of her interview reproduced in the charges filed against her.

“Just ask the Senate President why he withdrew my security if not to make me vulnerable to attacks. Mind you, of all the senators, about 109, we all have different stories.

“I have been a high-profile, vulnerable individual because of the nature of politics I have had, I have experienced since the year 2018. Very violent and dangerous. And I always have my security. So stripping me of my security because I am suspended illegally, actually it just positions me before attacks.”

Prior public claims

The TV appearance was not the first instance in which she would accuse the men of plotting to assassinate her.

Weeks before the interview, at a political rally in Kogi State, Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan accused Mr Akpabio of first attempting to influence Kogi Governor Usman Ododo to support her recall and later allegedly recruiting Mr Bello to both sponsor a recall process and plot her assassination.

“But Akpabio was not satisfied; he then called for Yahaya Bello. It was Senator Asuquo who drove Yahaya Bello to the Hiltons. I was informed.

“The meeting was in two folds; he told him to commence my recall. He was going to fund it. Of course, money changed hands that day. The second thing was that he should kill me,” she allegedly said.

She also said the police had been notified of the alleged plot, though no public investigation has been announced.

‘Both Messrs Akpabio and Bello denied the allegations’

Both Messrs Akpabio and Bello have denied the allegations.

Mr Akpabio described the claims as “false,” “malicious,” and “a complete fabrication.”

“This statement is not only a heinous lie but a reckless and deliberate attempt to damage my reputation, endanger my life and security, and incite political unrest.

“I categorically state that this allegation is entirely false, unfounded, and politically motivated. It is a calculated act of blackmail and character assassination, designed to portray me as a political villain, and the statement was made without any shred of truth or supporting evidence,” Mr. Akpabio said in his letter to the Attorney General of the Federation and Inspector General of Police.

Consequently, Mr Bello’s legal team labelled the remarks “reckless and inciting.”

In the petition signed by N.A. Abubakar, his lawyer, Mr Bello asked the IGP to invite Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan to substantiate her allegations against him with credible evidence.

Mr Bello filed the petition with the Inspector-General of Police demanding Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan’s arrest and prosecution for criminal defamation.

Senator with many legal battles

The new criminal case adds to the series of legal battles stemming from her political rivalry with Mr Bello, Mr Akpabio and their families.

Mr Akpabio’s wife, Ekaette Akpabio, filed two separate defamation suits against the suspended Kogi senator, demanding N350 billion in damages for reputational harm allegedly inflicted upon her husband.

She is not just being sued.

Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan is locked in a legal battle with Mr Akpabio and others, in a suit she filed in March to challenge her suspension from the Senate.

She also filed a defamation suit against Mr Akpabio and his legislative aide, Mfon Patrick, in the aftermath of her sexual harassment allegation against the senate president.

In another episode of her legal battles, the FCT High Court in Abuja recently dismissed a privacy breach case instituted against her by Mr Bello’s nephew, Ali Bello, who is the Chief of Staff to the incumbent Kogi State Governor Usman Ododo. The judge threw out the case on the grounds that the claimant failed to prove the privacy violation allegation, but rebuked Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan for her “reprehensible” social media post that triggered the legal action.