On Thursday, the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Maitama, Abuja, granted bail to the suspended Senator representing Kogi Central Senatorial District, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.
The bail was set at ₦50 million, with one surety required. The surety must be a person of reputable character, residing in the FCT, and must own landed property within the Abuja Municipal Area Council.
Justice Chizoba Orji delivered the ruling after hearing arguments from both sides regarding the bail application.
The Attorney General of the Federation had filed a three-count criminal charge (marked CR/297/25) against Akpoti-Uduaghan, accusing her of making defamatory statements against the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, during a live television interview.
According to the charge, which lists Akpabio and former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, as nominal complainants, Akpoti-Uduaghan allegedly stated that Bello conspired with Akpabio to arrange her assassination outside Abuja, disguising it as a mob or communal attack.
The Federal Government claimed the statements were made during a live appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today on April 3, 2025. It further alleged that Akpoti-Uduaghan knowingly or recklessly made these claims, aware that they could damage the reputations of those named.
One of the statements cited in the charge read:
“Let’s ask the Senate President, why did he withdraw my security in the first place, if not to leave me vulnerable to attacks? He stressed that I should be killed, but in Kogi. What matters to me is staying alive, because dead men tell no tales. Who will get justice for me?”
The suspended senator was equally probed as follows:
That you, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, on or about the 3rd day of April 2025, during the same Politics Today programme on Channels Television in Abuja, Federal Capital Territory, made the following imputation concerning Yahaya Adoza Bello, former Governor of Kogi State.
“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. You knew or had reason to believe that such imputations would harm the reputation of Yahaya Adoza Bello, former Governor of Kogi State.”
The senator is also accused of making defamatory statements about Akpabio during a telephone conversation with Sandra C. Duru in Abuja on March 27, 2025.
The alleged statement is as follows, “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 Federal Government contends the fact that Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan knew or ought to have known that this claim would harm the reputation of the Senate President Senator Godswill Akpabio.
At the commencement of the hearing, the counsel to the Attorney General of the Federation, David Kaswe, told the Court that the matter concerns the arraignment of the defendant (Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan).
Natasha was docked, and the three-count were read to her. She however pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
The legal team of Akpoti-Uduaghan, led by Professor Roland Otaru (SAN), afterwards informed the Court that a bail application filed on May 27 has been submitted to the court.
Kaswe, however, informed the court that the Federal Government is opposing the bail application and called the attention of the judge to a counter-affidavit filed before the court to this effect.
He proceeded to ask the court to remand the Kogi Senator to prison as she poses a flight risk. He said, “In view of the charge, we will be asking for a remand in a correctional facility.
The defence counsel, however, interjected, stating, “We already filed an application for bail. We are in a court of law for Justice. We have a motion on Notice dated May 27, 2025. You represent the Ministry of Justice, not the Ministry of Injustice.
“If your lordship graciously will, we urge your lordship to grant the bail application. This is a case where your lordship has the discretion to grant bail, and nobody can query it, not even the president can query it. Even on self-recognition because it is not a case of murder.”
Referencing the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, Otaru added that anybody who is charged with a criminal offence shall be presumed innocent until proven guilty. “And she pleaded not guilty. As she is standing there, she is innocent until proven otherwise,” he added.
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