The suspended senator from Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, is being sued by the Federal Government for allegedly making defamatory statements on live television. Akpoti-Uduaghan is the only defendant in the case, which was filed on May 16, 2025, before a Federal Capital Territory High Court with the filing number CR/297/25. Citing Section 391 of the Penal Code, section 89, Laws of the Federation, 1990, the government charged the senator with “making imputation knowing or having reason to believe that such imputation will harm the reputation of a person.” Section 392 of the same statute imposes penalties for the offense. According to the list of witnesses, Yahaya Bello, a former governor of Kogi State, and Senate President Godswill Akpabio will also testify during the trial.
Akpoti-Uduaghan was charged with making defamatory remarks during a live broadcast on Channels Television’s Politics Today on April 3, 2025, according to count one of the charges. Senator Asuquo Ekpenyong, Sandra Duru, investigative police officers Maya Iliya, and Abdulhafiz Garba are among the other witnesses named to testify in the lawsuit.
The alleged nominal complainants are Bello and Akpabio. On March 6, Natasha was suspended from the Senate for “gross misconduct” after she and Akpabio got into a fight over seating arrangements. According to the lawmaker, her suspension was unlawful, unfair, and an attempt to silence her.
So she rejected the Senate’s decision to suspend her due to her sexual harassment claim. The senator from Kogi made a number of accusations and filed petitions against the Senate president in the weeks that followed.
In response to Akpoti-Uduaghan’s accusation of his assassination, Akpabio petitioned Inspector-General of Police Kayode Egbetokun in April.
He called for an urgent investigation and Akpoti-Uduaghan’s prosecution for “criminal defamation, incitement, false accusation, and conduct likely to cause a breach of peace” under the applicable statutes. Additionally, Bello had petitioned the IGP regarding the Kogi senator’s allegations that the former governor had started and supported her recall effort.
She had claimed that Bello had carried out Akpabio’s directive to plan her murder outside of Abuja in a way that would have looked like a local or mob attack.
