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Summary
The Federal High Court in Abuja has rejected the Federal Government’s request to issue a bench warrant against Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan
Just a few days after the Court of Appeal struck out Senate President Godswill Akpabio’s motions in an ongoing legal tussle with Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, the Federal High Court in Abuja has now rejected a request by the Federal Government to issue a bench warrant against the senator in a separate criminal defamation case.
On June 16, 2025, proceedings, Justice Muhammed Umar ruled that it would be premature and unjust to issue an arrest warrant against Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, as there was no evidence she had been served the charge or notified of the hearing date.
This ruling came after the federal government’s counsel, David Kaswe, sought the court’s approval to arrest Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan for failing to appear for arraignment on charges linked to statements she allegedly made during a live TV broadcast on April 3, 2025.
Kaswe told the court that the charge had been served on her legal representative earlier that morning within the courtroom. However, Justice Umar firmly rejected this reasoning, stating that “a defendant cannot be expected to appear in court without prior service of the charge or hearing notice,” and emphasised that serving her counsel on the day of proceedings did not meet the threshold for personal service.
He therefore dismissed the application for a bench warrant and instead approved the prosecution’s request to serve the charge via substituted means through her lawyer, Johnson Usman. The court adjourned the arraignment to June 30.
The defamation charge, filed by the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Mohammed Abubakar, accuses Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan of making damaging allegations against Akpabio and former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello.
According to the Federal Government, during her April appearance on Channels TV’s Politics Today, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan alleged a conspiracy to eliminate her, involving both men. She claimed Akpabio had stripped her of official security and instructed that “she should be killed in Kogi,” while also alleging a meeting between Akpabio and Bello to orchestrate her assassination and disguise it as a local attack.
The charge also references a separate statement allegedly made by the senator during a phone call with activist Sandra C. Duru on March 27, in which she reportedly claimed that the organs of murdered job seeker Iniubong Umoren were harvested for Akpabio’s wife.
The Federal Government argues these statements were knowingly false and intended to damage the reputations of both officials. Akpabio, ex-Governor Bello, and four others are listed as prosecution witnesses in the case.
