COURT GRANTS SENATOR AKPOTI‑UDUAGHAN BAIL IN DEFAMATION TRIAL

In a follow up development , The Federal Capital Territory High Court, sitting in Abuja, has granted bail to suspended Kogi Central Senator, Natasha Akpoti‑Uduaghan, in a case bordering on alleged defamation of Senate President Godswill Akpabio and former Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello.
In a ruling delivered by Justice Chizoba Orji, the court rejected an application by the Federal Government to remand the Senator in prison custody pending the conclusion of the proceedings. The judge stated that she found no reason to deprive the defendant of bail, citing evidence that Akpoti‑Uduaghan was willing to appear in court and defend herself.
Consequently, the court granted the defendant bail in the sum of N50 million, with one surety required to be a person of integrity possessing a landed property within the Federal Capital Territory. The ruling was based on Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), as well as Sections 163 and 165 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015. The matter was then adjourned until September 23, 2025, for trial.
The Federal Government is prosecuting the Senator for allegedly making false claims that Senate President Akpabio and former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello were behind a plot to assassinate her. According to the charge marked CR/297/25, Akpoti‑Uduaghan allegedly committed the offence when she appeared as a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today on April 3, making an “imputation” she knew or had reason to believe would damage the reputations of the Senate President and the former Governor.
The charge stated that this allegedly violated Section 391 of the Penal Code, Cap 89, Laws of the Federation, 1990, an offence that is punishable under Section 392 of the same law. The prosecution has listed Akpabio and Bello as nominal complainants and witnesses, alongside two police officers — Maya Iliya and Abdulhafiz Garba — as well as Senator Asuquo Ekpenyong and one Sandra Duru.
The charges came shortly after Akpoti‑Uduaghan petitioned the Attorney‑General of the Federation, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, alleging bias in the police investigation of her complaints against the Senate President. This matter is also connected to a separate suit before the Federal High Court in Abuja, where a ruling is expected on June 27, 2025, to determine the legality of the Senator’s six‑month suspension from the chamber.
The suspension followed an incident in the Senate on February 20, when Akpoti‑Uduaghan was called to order and refused to stand down. The Senate President had directed the matter to the Committee on Ethics and Privileges for review. In a later television interview on February 28, the Senator alleged that her travails began after she refused advances from Akpabio. Seeking a court declaration, she petitioned the court for an order stating that any action taken by the Senate Committee during the pendency of her suit, including her suspension, was null, void, and of no effect.
The matter is set for a pivotal hearing in September.