Nigerian govt withdraws cyberbullying, criminal defamation charges against Akpoti-Uduaghan

The Nigerian government has withdrawn the cyberbullying and criminal defamation charges it brought against Kogi Central Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan last year.

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The government preferred the charges against her last year before separate courts, following her remarks publicly accusing Senate President Godswill Akpabio and homefront political rival, former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello, of plotting to have her assassinated.

She made the controversial claim on a live television programme and during her homecoming rally in her hometown, Ihima, in Kogi State, in April last year.

The remarks came in the aftermath of her six-month suspension by the Senate and raging battle between her and Mr Akpabio, whom she accused of sexual harassment.

The government charged her before two courts over her claim.

She faced cyberbullying charges at the Federal High Court in Abuja and criminal defamation charges at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Abuja.

PREMIUM TIMES saw, on Sunday, a notice of discontinuance of the charges filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja on behalf of the Attorney-General of the Federation for the termination of the cyberbullying case. The application was filed on 18 December.

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“Take notice that the Office of the Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation intends to discontinue proceeding in this matter,” read the notice signed by a team of lawyers comprising the immediate past Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation (DPPF), M.B. Abubakar, and an Assistant Chief State Counsel at the Federal Ministry of Justice, Aderonke Imana.

The government is expected to take similar action regarding the related charges filed at the FCT High Court in Abuja.

The Nigerian government, through the DPPF, filed the first case against her on 16 May 2025 at the FCT High Court in Abuja.

In the case, Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan was charged with criminal defamation over the remarks accusing Messrs Akpabio and Bello of plotting to assassinate her.

Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan, who was suspended from the Senate for six months in March 2025, was accused of making the remarks during a homecoming rally in her hometown, Ihima, Kogi State, on 1 April 2025, and in a live interview on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme, on 3 April 2025.

Mr Abubakar, the then 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.

The senator 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.

The later case filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja contained six counts, which similarly hovered over her public remarks about Messrs Akpabio and Bello allegedly attempting to assassinate her. The case accused Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan of cyberbullying and defaming the two men.

The charge quoted her as telling her audience in Ihima on 1 April 2025, “…and Akpabio told Yahaya Bello, I am saying, standing by what I have said. He told him that he should make sure that killing me does not happen in Abuja; it should be done here, so it will seem as if it is the people that killed me here…”

Another count in the case accused her of a cybercrime offence by saying during a live interview on Channel Television’s Politics Today, on 3 April, “…Seun, I am glad you did affirm that I am a lawyer, and even if lam not a lawyer, l am a sane individual, and I do stand by what I said, it was part of the meeting, the discussions that Akpabio had witn Yahaya Betlo thac night, ehm to eliminate me…”

The charge also quoted her as saying that “…shortly a week after, which was the 14th, a week and a few days later when he met with him, he then emphasised that I should be killed but I should be killed in Kogi…”

The prosecutors said the remarks could harm the reputation of Messrs Akpabio and Bello.

They said she thereby committed offences in sections 24 (1)(b) and 24 (2)(c) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) (Amendment) Act, 2024 and punishable under the same sections of the Act.

Among the witnesses lined up against her were Governor Usman Ododo of Kogi State; Ekpenyong Asuquo, a senator, Reno Omokri and Sandra Duru.

Both Messrs Akpabio and Bello denied the assassination plot allegation.

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

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

Stalled trial

Both trials were stalled on several occasions.

She was arraigned on the criminal defamation charges before the FCT High Court on 16 June 2025 and subsequently on the cybercrime charges before the Federal High Court on 30 June 2025.

But since her arraignment before the separate courts, the cases have yet to make tangible progress.

On different occasions, proceedings were stalled by the notices of preliminary objections filed by Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan, asking for the dismissal of the charges.

In the objection she filed at the Federal High Court, she alleged that Messrs Akpabio and Bello had no reputation to protect to sustain the charges.

In the other objection, she challenged the power of the Attorney-General of the Federation’s office to bring the charges.

Other cases

The feud between Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan and Mr Akpabio had set off a series of cases. A lot of the cases are civil suits filed in personal capacities. They include suits filed by Mr Akpabio and his wife against Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan over allegations of sexual harassment she levelled against him.

Mr Akpabio recently asked his lawyers to withdraw the defamation suits against individuals who had allegedly made false claims against him.

Mr Akpabio gave the directive on Thursday while speaking at the Sacred Heart Parish, Uyo, after listening to a New Year sermon delivered by the parish priest.

Mr Akpoti-Uduaghan, who was recalled by the Senate in September 2025 following the expiration of her six-month suspension, is awaiting the Court of Appeal judgment on the legality of her suspension. Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan and the senate president had gone on appeal to challenge various unfavourable aspects of the Federal High Court judgement on the matter.