The Nigerian government has filed criminal defamation charges against Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, citing her public allegations that Senate President Godswill Akpabio and former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello plotted to assassinate her.
According to court documents obtained by DAILY GAZETTE, the charges were filed before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, with the Federal Republic of Nigeria listed as the complainant and Senator Natasha as the sole defendant.
The senator is being charged under Section 391 of the Penal Code Law, Cap 89, Laws of the Federation, 1990. The alleged offence is punishable under Section 392 of the same law.
The allegations stem from a live interview Senator Natasha granted on Channels Television’s programme Politics Today on April 3, 2025, during which she stated:
“I do stand by what I said. In respect to the meeting or discussion Akpabio had with Yahaya Bello that night to eliminate me.”
She also accused Senate President Akpabio of orchestrating the withdrawal of her security detail to make her more vulnerable to attack.
The government plans to call six witnesses, including key political figures, to testify in the case.
Godswill Akpabio and Yahaya Bello are listed as nominal complainants and are expected to testify on their personal knowledge of the events.
Their addresses are listed as No. 13 TY Danjuma Street, Asokoro, and No. 9 Benghazi Street, Wuse Zone 4, respectively.
Senator Ekpenyong Asuquo, whom Natasha alleged drove Bello to the Hilton Hotel for the said meeting, is also listed as a witness. His address is the Senate Building, National Assembly Complex.
Dr. Sandra C. Duru, a U.S.-based individual, is included as a witness, listed to testify about her knowledge of the matter.
Her address is 1 Chrisholm Trail Road, Suite 450, Round Rock, Texas, 78681.
Two police officers from the IGP Monitoring Unit, ACP Maya Iliya and SP Abdulhafiz Garba, are listed as the investigating officers in the case.
Before the television interview, Senator Natasha had made similar claims at a political rally in Kogi State.
“The Senate President first reached out to Governor Ododo to recall me. But Ododo declined, saying the people love me too much. So he turned to Yahaya Bello,” she said at the rally.
“Akpabio was not satisfied. He then called for Yahaya Bello. It was Senator Asuquo who drove Yahaya Bello to the Hilton. I was informed. The meeting was in two folds.”
“He told him to commence my recall. He was going to fund it. Of course, money changed hands that day. The second thing was that he should kill me.”
“Akpabio told Yahaya Bello to kill me. He told him not to do it in Abuja. It should be done here [in Kogi], so it would seem like the people killed me. I didn’t make that public, but we did notify the police about it.”
