Suspended senator representing Kogi Central Senatorial District, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, will appear before a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court on Tuesday, following criminal charges filed by the Federal Government.
This was confirmed on Sunday by her lead counsel, West Idahosa (SAN), who disclosed that while the legal team has been summoned, it remains unclear whether an arraignment will proceed as part of Tuesday’s hearing.
“We don’t know. We saw a notice of amended charges. It’s their call. They’ve amended the charges once, and they might do so again,” Idahosa told The PUNCH during a phone interview.
The Federal Government, through the Director of Public Prosecutions, Mohammed Abubakar, filed multiple charges against Akpoti-Uduaghan, accusing her of making defamatory claims against the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, and former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello.
According to the charge sheet filed on May 16, 2025, and marked CR/297/25, the allegations stem from remarks Akpoti-Uduaghan allegedly made during a live interview on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme aired on April 3, 2025. In the broadcast, she reportedly accused Akpabio and Bello of conspiring to assassinate her.
Quoting from the charge, she allegedly said:
“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 government also cited a private telephone conversation on March 27, 2025, between Akpoti-Uduaghan and a woman identified as Dr Sandra Duru. In the recorded exchange, Akpoti-Uduaghan allegedly linked Senate President Akpabio to an organ harvesting scheme involving the late Iniubong Umoren, purportedly for the benefit of Akpabio’s ailing wife.
Akpabio, Bello, and four other individuals have been listed as key witnesses for the prosecution.
Despite the gravity of the allegations, Akpoti-Uduaghan’s legal team expressed readiness to face the charges in court.
“Our client is a law-abiding citizen. Why wouldn’t she be there? It’s a summons we’ve undertaken. Only disrespectful institutions disregard court orders, and she is not one of them,” Idahosa stated.
He added that the team remains focused on defending what they believe to be contestable charges, distancing themselves from public protests surrounding the matter.
“The issue of protest is irrelevant to us. We are lawyers, and our focus is on defending charges in court. Protests are the domain of civil society organisations and others in that space,” he said.
As anticipation builds ahead of Tuesday’s proceedings, observers are keen to see how the legal battle unfolds between the embattled senator and the Federal Government.