![The suspended Kogi Central Senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan [Photo credit: Natasha H. Akpoti on Facebook]](https://i0.wp.com/media.premiumtimesng.com/wp-content/files/2025/03/480445799_10161194900121758_5703807504898824624_n.jpg?fit=2048%2C1366&ssl=1)
The scheduled commencement of the cybercrime trial of Kogi Central Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan was stalled at the Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday.
Trial judge Mohammed Umar rescheduled the trial after Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan’s defence team raised a preliminary objection challenging the power of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) to prosecute her for cybercrime.
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Her lawyer, West Idahosa, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), told the judge that the objection was not against the charges but against the prosecutorial authority of the AGF in the cybercrime matter.
Mr Idahosa said the court needed to first clear the preliminary objection before contemplating trial.
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Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan is facing six counts of criminal defamation and cyberbullying.
The federal government, through the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation, filed the charges against her, accusing her of making statements capable of harming the reputation of Senate President Godswill Akpabio and former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello.
In one of the counts, prosecutors alleged that on 1 April, while addressing a crowd at Ihima community in Kogi State, she made assassination remarks transmitted via a computer system and network with the intention to harm the reputations of Messrs Akpabio and Bello.
Prosecutors also alleged that Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan, during a television interview, claimed that Messrs Akpabio and Bello were plotting to eliminate her when she allegedly knew the claim to be false.
They said her offences violated the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) (Amendment) Act, 2024, and are punishable under the same Act.
Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan denied all the charges during her arraignment in June.
Hearing
At Monday’s proceedings, prosecution lawyer D.E Kaswe reminded the court that the matter was slated for trial and that a witness was in court.
But Mr Idahosa informed the court of the preliminary objection filed on 18 September.
He explained that the objection challenging the AGF’s power to prosecute the case had been duly served on the prosecution.
He argued that while the defence was entitled to have the statements of the proposed prosecution witnesses, the court ought to determine the preliminary objection filed by the defence before commencement of trial.
Mr Kaswe said objection filed by the defence was strange. He noted that although it might have been served on the prosecution at the Ministry of Justice, it had not reached him through official process. He maintained his position that the trial should go on.
After hearing both sides, the judge adjourned the matter until 20 October for the hearing of the preliminary objection, directing the prosecution to respond before that date.
Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan is also charged in another case at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Abuja, based on the same public comments regarding Messrs Akpabio and Bello. The charges in the case were brought under the Penal Code.
On 19 June, the federal government arraigned her before FCT High Court judge Chizoba Orji, who granted her bail in the sum of N50 million.
The senator pleaded not guilty, and trial was scheduled to start on 23 September.
The cases are part of the legal troubles Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan has faced since her suspension by the Senate in March.
Despite obtaining a judgment declaring her suspension illegal and subsequently completing the six-month suspension earlier this month, the Senate has blocked her resumption, citing pending appeals regarding the case.
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