By Titilope Adako
Suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan will appear before the Federal Capital Territory High Court on Tuesday following a summons over alleged defamatory statements against top government officials.
Her lead counsel, West Idahosa (SAN), confirmed her scheduled court appearance on Sunday but said it remained unclear whether the Federal Government intended to formally arraign her.
According to Idahosa, the senator would comply with the court’s directive as a law-abiding citizen.
The Federal Government, through the Director of Public Prosecutions, Mohammed Abubakar, filed criminal charges against Akpoti-Uduaghan for remarks made during a live Channels TV interview and a private phone conversation.
The charges, filed on May 16, 2025, and marked CR/297/25, accused her of alleging during an April 3 appearance on Politics Today that Senate President Godswill Akpabio and former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello discussed a plan to assassinate her.
“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 quoted her as saying.
In a separate claim, Akpoti-Uduaghan was alleged to have told Dr Sandra Duru during a March 27 phone conversation that Akpabio was connected to the organ harvesting of the late Iniubong Umoren, supposedly for the benefit of his ailing wife.
Akpabio, Bello, and four others have been listed as key witnesses in the trial.
Idahosa said the defence team was fully prepared to respond.
“If the case is called tomorrow, we will respond accordingly with our client,” he stated.
“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.”
On the question of arraignment, 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.”
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