Suspended senator representing Kogi Central Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan appeared before the Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday for her second arraignment on charges of defamation against Senate President Godswill Akpabio and former Kogi State governor Yahaya Bello.
Natasha was accompanied to court by her husband, Emmanuel Uduaghan, human rights activist Aisha Yesufu, and a group of supporters.
The matter is likely to be heard before Justice Mohammed Umar.
On June 19, 2025, the legislator was first charged with comparable offences in front of the Federal Capital Territory High Court.
At the previous hearing, the trial judge refused the federal government’s request to issue a bench warrant against her for failing to appear in court.
In a ruling delivered on Thursday, Chizoba Orji, presiding judge, rejected the application by the federal government to remand Natasha Akpoti in prison custody pending trial.
The judge held that there was no justification to deny Natasha Akpoti bail, noting that there was “sufficient evidence” before the court showing her willingness to face trial.
As part of the bail conditions, the court directed that the senator must produce one surety, who must be a “person of integrity” and owner of a landed property within Abuja.
Natasha Akpoti was arraigned on a three-count charge bordering on criminal defamation, with the federal government as the complainant. The charges were filed on May 16, 2025, in suit number CR/297/25.
The case lists Godswill Akpabio, the senate president, and former Yahaya Bello, the former governor of Kogi State, as nominal complainants.
According to the charge, the lawmaker was accused of “making imputation knowing or having reason to believe that such imputation will harm the reputation of a person”, an offence under section 391 of the Penal Code, cap 89, Laws of the Federation, 1990, and punishable under section 392.
Akpoti-Uduaghan pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
In one of the counts, the Kogi senator was alleged to have claimed in a television interview that Akpabio and Bello plotted to assassinate her.
She was also accused of making damaging statements about Akpabio during a private phone conversation with one Sandra C. Duru in Abuja on or about March 27, 2025.
The charges follow a series of confrontations between the lawmaker and the Senate leadership, which culminated in her suspension from the red chamber on March 6 for what the leadership described as “gross misconduct”.
