Sunday Aborisade in Abuja 

The Federal Government Thursday filed criminal charges against Senator Natasha  Akpoti-Uduaghan.

The Kogi Central Senator was accused of allegedly making damaging allegations against the Senate President, Senator Godswill Obot Akpabio, and former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Adoza Bello.

The suit with Charge No. CR/1277/25 was filed at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, before Justice C. N. Oji.

The three-count charge was brought by the Department of Public Prosecutions (DPP) on behalf of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF). 

The Federal Government is accusing Akpoti-Uduaghan of making imputations intended to harm reputations, contrary to Section 391 of the Penal Code Law and punishable under Section 392 of the same law.

The first count centres on a televised interview granted by Akpoti-Uduaghan on Channels Television’s political programme, ‘Politics Today’, aired on April 3, 2025. 

In the interview, the senator accused the Senate President, Akpabio, of plotting her assassination in collaboration with former Kogi Governor Bello.

Responding to a question from the anchor, Seun Okinbaloye, Akpoti-Uduaghan stated: “It was part of the meeting, the discussions that Akpabio had with Yahaya Bello that night, ehm… to eliminate me.”

She further implied that the withdrawal of her official security details by the Senate upon her suspension was a deliberate plot to make her “vulnerable to attacks,”  suggesting an orchestrated attempt on her life.

Prosecutors argue that these public statements were made with knowledge or reason to believe they would damage Akpabio’s reputation.

The second count mirrors the first, on the imputation against Bello.

Akpoti-Uduaghan told the same television audience that a plan to assassinate her was not to be carried out in Abuja, but in Kogi State under Bello’s watch.

She said: “A week and a few days later when [Akpabio] met with [Bello], he then emphasized that I should be killed… I delayed going home because I had to put some measures on ground.”

She claimed to have reported the threats to the Inspector General of Police and made efforts to inform security operatives.

The prosecution contends that these allegations, made on national television, not only tarnished the character of Bello, but also presented a grave national security concern, especially given the implications of political violence. 

In a third charge, the Federal Government alleges that on March 27, 2025, during a telephone conversation with one Sandra C. Duru, Akpoti-Uduaghan made a horrifying claim implicating the Senate President in an alleged killing and organ harvesting.

According to court documents, she stated: “There was this girl that was killed, what’s her name, umm… Iniobong Umoren… her organs were actually used for [Akpabio’s] wife, because the wife was really ill three years ago…”

This claim, referencing a real-life murder case that once shocked the nation, is now being legally framed as a malicious and unsubstantiated attack on Akpabio’s character, capable of inciting public outrage and diminishing public confidence in the leadership of the National Assembly.

The government maintains that Akpoti-Uduaghan acted recklessly and with malicious intent, abusing her public platform to spread defamatory and inflammatory statements that have far-reaching consequences for national peace, security, and democratic integrity.

Akpoti-Uduaghan was not in court but Justice Orji, however, ordered that efforts should not be spared in ensuring that she is served before the next adjourned date.