The Federal Government has slammed criminal defamation charges against Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan (Kogi Central), following explosive allegations she made against Senate President Godswill Akpabio and former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello.
Filed by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), the case stems from comments Akpoti-Uduaghan made during a live appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today on April 3, 2025.
She had accused Akpabio and Bello of plotting to assassinate her — an accusation now at the heart of the criminal suit lodged before the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Abuja.
In the charge sheet seen by journalists, the Federal Government, represented by the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation (DPPF), Mohammed Abubakar, listed Akpoti-Uduaghan as the sole defendant but indicated that both Akpabio and Bello could be called to testify as witnesses.
One of the allegations reads, “It was part of the meeting, the discussions that Akpabio had with Yahaya Bello that night to eliminate me.
Let’s ask the Senate President why, in the first instance, he withdrew 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.”
The Federal Government is charging her under Section 391 of the Penal Code Law, Cap. 89, Laws of the Federation, 1990, for knowingly making imputations that could harm the reputation of another — an offence punishable under Section 392.
In a second count, Akpoti-Uduaghan was alleged to have made another defamatory statement during a phone conversation on March 27, 2025, with one Sandra C. Duru in Abuja.
According to the charge, she claimed, “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 argued that the senator “knew or had reason to believe” such a statement would harm Senator Akpabio’s reputation.
