A Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed the Federal Government’s request for an arrest warrant against suspended Kogi Central Senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, after she failed to appear for her arraignment in a defamation case.
The presiding judge, Justice Muhammed Umar, delivered the ruling on Monday, June 16, 2025. The government’s counsel, David Kaswe, had informed the court that the criminal charge had been served to Akpoti-Uduaghan’s lawyer earlier that morning.
However, Justice Umar ruled that since the senator had not previously been served with the charge or hearing notice personally, her absence could not justify a warrant for her arrest. The judge disagreed with the prosecution’s claim that service on her lawyer was sufficient to presume her awareness of the court proceedings.
Following the refusal to grant the bench warrant, the prosecution applied for substituted service—asking the court to formally serve the charge on Akpoti-Uduaghan through her legal counsel, Johnson Usman (SAN). The court approved the application and adjourned the case to June 30 for arraignment.
Details of the Case
The criminal defamation charge was filed by the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Mohammed Abubakar, on behalf of the Federal Government. Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan is the sole defendant in the case.
The charge stems from statements she allegedly made during a live broadcast on Channels Television’s Politics Today on April 3, 2025. In her comments, she accused former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello and Senate President Godswill Akpabio of plotting to have her assassinated and staging it to appear as a mob attack in Kogi State.
Quoting the broadcast, the FG alleges she said:
“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 reportedly continued, “What is important to me is to stay alive, because dead men tell no tales.”
The FG contends that Akpoti-Uduaghan knowingly made these accusations with intent to damage the reputations of both Akpabio and Bello.
The charge also includes claims from a separate alleged phone conversation between the senator and Sandra C. Duru on March 27, 2025. In that call, Akpoti-Uduaghan allegedly linked Senate President Akpabio to the death of Iniubong Umoren, a woman killed in a widely reported case, suggesting her organs were used for a transplant procedure for Akpabio’s ailing wife.
Witnesses and Prosecution Strategy
The Federal Government has named Senate President Godswill Akpabio, former Governor Yahaya Bello, and four others as witnesses in the trial. Prosecutors maintain that the senator’s statements were not only baseless but also dangerous, capable of inciting public unrest and irreparably damaging reputations.
As the legal battle unfolds, all eyes are now on the scheduled arraignment on June 30, which will likely determine the course of what promises to be a high-profile trial.
