Suspended senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, is expected to appear before a court on Tuesday following a summons issued against her.
Her lead counsel, West Idahosa (SAN), confirmed this development on Sunday but said it remained unclear whether the Federal Government intended to formally arraign her on the same day.
Idahosa emphasized that regardless of the government’s intentions, Akpoti-Uduaghan would comply with the court’s directive, describing her as a law-abiding citizen.
The Federal Government, through the Director of Public Prosecutions, Mohammed Abubakar, has filed criminal charges accusing Akpoti-Uduaghan of making defamatory remarks during a live television programme and in a private phone conversation.
According to the charge marked CR/297/25 and filed on May 16, 2025, at the Federal Capital Territory High Court, the senator allegedly made serious accusations during an interview on Channels TV’s Politics Today on April 3, 2025. In the broadcast, she reportedly claimed that Senate President Godswill Akpabio and former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello plotted her assassination.
“It was part of the meeting, the discussions that Akpabio had with Yahaya Bello that night— to eliminate me… he then emphasised that I should be killed in Kogi,” the charge quotes her as saying.
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Additionally, the prosecution alleges that Akpoti-Uduaghan made further defamatory claims during a phone conversation on March 27, 2025, with a woman identified as Dr. Sandra Duru. In that conversation, she is said to have linked Akpabio to organ harvesting involving the late Iniubong Umoren, allegedly for the benefit of his sick wife.
Akpabio, Bello, and four others have been named as witnesses expected to testify during the trial.
Speaking to The PUNCH over the phone, Idahosa reaffirmed the legal team’s commitment to defending Akpoti-Uduaghan.
“If the case is called tomorrow, we will respond accordingly with our client.
The issue of protest is irrelevant to us — we are lawyers, and our focus is on defending charges we believe can be contested. Protests are the domain of civil societies and others in that terrain,” Idahosa said.
He added, “Our client is a law-abiding citizen. Why wouldn’t she be there? It’s a summons we have undertaken. Only disrespectful institutions that disregard court orders would fail to appear, and she is not in that category.”
On the issue of whether she would be arraigned, Idahosa said, “We don’t know. We saw a notice of amended charges. We don’t know what they are trying to do. They’ve amended the charges once and could do so again—it’s their decision.”
