A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Monday dismissed a request by the Federal Government for a bench warrant to arrest suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who is facing criminal defamation charges.
The decision came after the federal prosecutor, David Kaswe, informed the court that Akpoti-Uduaghan’s lawyer had just been served with the charges earlier that morning in court. Despite this, the senator failed to appear for arraignment.
Presiding Judge, Justice Muhammed Umar, rejected the arrest application, stating that the court could not hold the senator accountable for non-appearance when she had not previously been served the charge or given formal notice of the hearing.
Justice Umar ruled that, “as the senator had not previously been served with the charge or a hearing notice, it was inconceivable for her to have appeared in court.”
Kaswe argued that the senator should have been aware of the arraignment since her legal representative had accepted the documents on her behalf. However, the judge dismissed the claim, saying that service on legal counsel alone does not imply that the defendant herself was aware of the scheduled proceedings.
Following the ruling, the prosecution requested and was granted permission for substituted service of the charge through Akpoti-Uduaghan’s counsel, Johnson Usman. The court subsequently fixed June 30 for her arraignment.
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The criminal charge, brought by the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Mohammed Abubakar, on behalf of the Federal Government, accuses Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan of making defamatory remarks during a live television interview.
The complaint names the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, and former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, as nominal complainants.
The FG alleges that Akpoti-Uduaghan accused both men of plotting to assassinate her and disguise it as a local or mob attack, a claim she allegedly made on *Channels Television’s* *Politics Today* programme aired on April 3, 2025.
She is reported to have said during the broadcast: “Let’s ask the Senate President, why in the first instance did he withdraw my security, if not to make me vulnerable to attacks? He then emphasised that I should be killed, but I should be killed in Kogi. What is important to me is to stay alive, because dead men tell no tales. Who is going to get justice for me?”
The charge further claims that she directly linked former Governor Yahaya Bello to a plot to kill her, allegedly stating: “It was part of the meeting, the discussions that Akpabio had with Yahaya Bello that night, to eliminate me. When he met with him, he then emphasised that I should be killed, but I should be killed in Kogi.”
The Federal Government maintains that the senator made these statements with knowledge—or at least reasonable belief—that they would damage the reputations of the individuals named.
The suit also references a separate accusation made during a phone call between Akpoti-Uduaghan and Sandra C. Duru on March 27, 2025. In that conversation, she allegedly made damaging claims about Senate President Akpabio in connection with the death of a young woman.
According to the charge, she said:
“That girl that was killed, what’s her name, umm Imoren Iniubong, her organs were actually used for the wife, because the wife was really ill… when they killed the girl, and her organs were used for the wife.”
The government contends that the senator “knew or ought to have known” that such a statement would injure the reputation of the Senate President.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio, former Governor Yahaya Bello, and four other individuals have been listed as prosecution witnesses for the upcoming trial.
