Court fixes date for Akpoti-Uduaghan’s arraignment

The Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed 3 June for the arraignment of the suspended Kogi Central Senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, over criminal defamation charges filed against her by the Federal Government.

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The arraignment notice, referenced as Suit No. CR/297/25 and signed by court registrar, Hiradi Dada, schedules the proceedings in response to allegations that Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan made defamatory statements implicating the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio and former Kogi Governor, Yahaya Bello in an alleged assassination plot.

The Department of Public Prosecutions of the Federation (DPPF), under the Federal Ministry of Justice, filed the charges on 16 May.

According to the court filings, the suspended senator is being prosecuted under Section 391 of the Penal Code Law, Cap 89, Laws of the Federation, 1990. The section criminalises any imputation made with the intent, or with reason to believe, that it could damage another person’s reputation.

M.B. Abubakar, director of the DPPF, who signed the charge sheet said Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan made the assassination claim knowingly and was aware that her statements could negatively impact the reputations of Messrs Akpabio and Bello.

The allegations

The charges were as a result of the interview granted by Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan in Channels Television’s Politics Today on 3 April.

During the broadcast, the suspended senator claimed that her life was in danger because of the withdrawal of her security details as contained in the conditions attached to her suspension from the Senate.

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She accused Messrs Akpabio and Bello of conspiring to assassinate her.

“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.

“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,” she was quoted as saying in the excerpts of her interview reproduced in the charges filed against her.

The TV appearance was not the first instance in which she would accuse Messrs Akpabio and Bello of plotting to assassinate her.

Earlier, at a homecoming gathering on 1 April, Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan had also accused Mr Akpabio and Mr Bello of plotting to have her assassinated.

She claimed that the alleged plot was due to an unsuccessful attempt to initiate her recall from the Senate.

“On the 13th of March at 10:00 pm, mind you, two days before that, Akpabio had called Governor Ododo on the phone to commence my recall but Ododo told him it would be impossible. Ododo told Akpabio that the recall will be impossible because the masses are with me. But Akpabio was not satisfied so he called Yahaya Bello. I was informed of everything.

“The meeting was on two folds, they told him to commence my recall and that he was going to fund it. The second thing he said was that he should try and kill me. I didn’t make this public, but I have written to the IG of Police.

“Akpabio told Yahaya Bello that he should make sure that killing me does not happen in Abuja, that it should happen here so that it will look as if it was the people that killed me here,” the embattled senator alleged.

Messrs Akpabio and Bello have since denied the allegations. They have each filed petitions with the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, calling for a thorough investigation into the allegations.