Court Grants N50m Bail To Senator Natasha, Sets Trial For September 23

The High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), sitting in Maitama, has granted bail to the suspended senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, in the sum of N50 million.

In a ruling delivered by Justice Chizoba Orji, the court dismissed the federal government’s application seeking to have the defendant remanded in prison custody pending the outcome of her trial on a three-count charge.

Justice Orji ruled that there was no justification to deny bail, noting that there was enough evidence to show the defendant’s willingness to face trial.

Consequently, in addition to the N50 million bail amount, the court ordered that Akpoti-Uduaghan must produce one surety—a person of integrity who owns landed property in Abuja.

The court’s decision was based on Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), as well as Sections 163 and 165 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015.

The matter has been adjourned to September 23 for the commencement of the trial.

The federal government is prosecuting Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan over an alleged false claim that Senate President Godswill Akpabio and former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello were involved in a plot to assassinate her.

In the charge marked CR/297/25, the FG alleged that Akpoti-Uduaghan, listed as the sole defendant, made the defamatory remarks during a live appearance on a television programme.

It specifically accused her of making “imputation, knowing or having reason to believe that such imputation will harm the reputation of a person”.

According to the charge, the alleged statement constituted an offence under Section 391 of the Penal Code, Cap 89, Laws of the Federation, 1990, and is punishable under Section 392 of the same law.

Detailing the accusation in count one, the FG claimed the offence was committed on April 3, during a live broadcast of Channels Television’s Politics Today.

The prosecution listed Senate President Godswill Akpabio and former Kogi Governor Yahaya Bello as nominal complainants and witnesses in the case. Additional witnesses include police investigators Maya Iliya and Abdulhafiz Garba, Senator Asuquo Ekpenyong, and Sandra Duru.

The charges were filed following a letter Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan addressed to the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), in which she accused the police of bias in handling her petitions against the Senate President.

Meanwhile, a separate legal battle is ongoing regarding the legality of her six-month suspension from the Senate. The Federal High Court in Abuja has scheduled June 27 to rule on the matter.

Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan had approached the court after being summoned by the Senate’s disciplinary committee, following a confrontation with the Senate President on February 20 during plenary. She had raised multiple points of order to protest the alleged arbitrary reassignment of her seat, despite being overruled.

Her case was referred to the Ethics Committee, and in a televised interview on February 28, she alleged that her ordeal stemmed from rejecting “unwanted advances” from Senate President Akpabio.

In an ex parte motion filed in court, she sought a declaration that any action taken by the Senate Committee during the pendency of her lawsuit, including her suspension, be deemed “null, void, and of no effect”.