A Federal High Court in Abuja has turned down the Federal Government’s request to arrest Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan for not showing up in court to face defamation charges.
Justice Mohammed Umar, who gave the ruling on Monday, said the senator had not been properly served with the charges or told about the court hearing in advance. He added that it was wrong to expect her to appear in court without being informed.
The government’s lawyer, David Kaswe, told the court that the charges had been given to Senator Natasha’s lawyer earlier that morning in the courtroom. He argued that since her lawyer had received the charge, the senator should have known about the arraignment and attended.
But Justice Umar disagreed. He ruled that giving the charges to a lawyer in court on the day of the hearing is not the same as officially informing the person involved. As a result, he refused the request to issue a bench warrant for her arrest.
Instead, the court allowed the prosecution to serve the charges to the senator through her lawyer, Johnson Usman, in what is called substituted service. The judge then fixed June 30 for her arraignment.
The criminal case was filed by the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Mohammed Abubakar, on behalf of the Federal Government. The case accuses Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan of making damaging comments about Senate President Godswill Akpabio and former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello during a live TV interview.
According to the government, the senator appeared on Channels Television’s “Politics Today” on April 3, 2025, where she claimed that Akpabio and Bello planned to have her killed and make it look like a local attack.
Part of her reported comments include, “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.”
She is also alleged to have said, “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 says these words were meant to harm the reputations of both men.
In addition, the government accuses Natasha of making another harmful statement during a phone call with Sandra C. Duru in Abuja on March 27, 2025. In that call, she allegedly said that the organs of a young woman named Iniubong Umoren, who was killed, were used to treat Akpabio’s sick wife.
The government believes that Natasha either knew or should have known that her words could damage the reputation of the Senate President.
The Senate President, Yahaya Bello, and four others have been listed as witnesses for the case. The court will now wait for the next hearing on June 30 when the senator is expected to appear and face the charges.
