Defamation case: Akpabio, Yahaya Bello Have No Reputation to Protect, Akpoti-Uduaghan Tells Court

Kogi Central Senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, has told the Federal High Court in Abuja that Senate President Godswill Akpabio and former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello have no good reputation to protect. She argued that her statements accusing both men of plotting to assassinate her did not amount to defamation.

The senator made the claim in a notice of preliminary objection to cyberbullying and defamation charges filed against her by the federal government. Filed on 18 September and marked CR/195/25, the objection was submitted through her lawyer, Michael Numa, SAN, and supported by a 17-page affidavit she personally deposed to.

Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan said Mr Akpabio, during his tenure as Akwa Ibom State governor, faced several allegations of violence, while Mr Bello was accused of mismanaging state funds as Kogi governor. She argued that these allegations were far more serious than any supposed defamation the government claimed she committed.

She further told the court that the suits were not instituted in the public interest but rather to serve the personal interests of Messrs Akpabio and Bello. According to her, her statements accusing the two men of plotting to assassinate her were personal opinions unrelated to their official capacities as public officers.

The senator alleged that the police failed to conduct any credible investigation before the federal government proceeded with the charges, describing the move as politically motivated. She said she would provide documentary evidence to show that the prosecution amounted to an abuse of the powers of the Attorney-General of the Federation.

The federal government has filed two separate criminal cases against Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan. The first, marked CR/297/25, was filed on 16 May under Section 391 of the Penal Code Law, which criminalises making damaging imputations against another person’s reputation. The case followed her 3 April appearance on Channels Television’s *Politics Today*, where she alleged that her life was in danger after her security detail was withdrawn and accused Messrs Akpabio and Bello of being behind the alleged assassination plot.

M.B. Abubakar, Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, who signed the charge sheet, said the senator knowingly made the allegations, aware they could harm the reputations of the individuals mentioned.

The second case, marked CR/195/25, expanded on the earlier one by including remarks she allegedly made during a homecoming event in her constituency on 1 April. At that event, she repeated her claims that the Senate President and the former governor were plotting to kill her, linking the alleged plan to her refusal to bow to political pressure and an unsuccessful attempt to recall her from the Senate.