A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Maitama has set December 1 to rule on a jurisdictional challenge filed by Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, representing Kogi Central, against the Federal Government’s (FG) defamation charge.
FG filed the charge, designated CR/297/25, alleging that the lawmaker, who was recently suspended by the Senate for six months—made false and defamatory statements during a television interview.
Specifically, the FG accuses Akpoti-Uduaghan of making false imputations that harmed the reputations of both the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, and a former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello.
The particulars of the offence allege that on April 3, during a live broadcast on Channels Television’s Politics Today, the Senator claimed that some politicians, including Akpabio and Bello, were conspiring to assassinate her.
The FG contends that this claim violates Section 391 of the Penal Code, Cap 89, Laws of the Federation, 1990, and is punishable under Section 392.
At the court session on Monday, the Senator, who has already entered a not-guilty plea to the three-count charge, sought to halt the commencement of the full trial.
Her legal team, led by Ehiogie West-Idahosa, presented a preliminary objection challenging the court’s authority to hear the case.
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The defence attorney argued that the court lacked jurisdiction because the Attorney-General of the Federation had committed an “abuse of prosecutorial powers.”
“This is not a challenge to the counts or elements of the offence, but a challenge to the validity of the action itself. Assuming the court agrees with us, there will be no need to proceed with the trial,” Idahosa maintained, stressing that the objection was a “threshold matter.”
The defence also raised an issue with the prosecution’s disclosure, arguing that the evidence provided to the defendant only contained summaries of the proposed witnesses’ extra-judicial statements, not the full details required for a proper defence.
Counsel for the FG, David Kaswe, admitted that while the prosecution had prepared a response to the defence’s objection, they had not yet served the counter-affidavit on Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan’s legal team.
Kaswe requested an adjournment to ensure proper service, noting that it would be unfair to proceed without the defence having a chance to review and respond to the prosecution’s counter-arguments.
Despite not opposing the adjournment, the defence counsel requested a long date, citing a scheduled commitment for his legal team at the International Bar Association meeting in Canada.
After hearing submissions from both sides, Justice Orji adjourned the proceedings to December 1 to hear the preliminary objection.
