The High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), sitting in Maitama, has rejected a Federal Government application to have a suspended senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, kept in prison custody and granted her bail in the sum of N50 million. She represents Kogi Central on the platform of opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Delivering the ruling, Justice Chizoba Orji held that there was no justification to deny bail, citing sufficient evidence that the senator was willing to stand trial.
As part of the bail conditions, Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan is required to provide one surety—an individual of proven integrity who owns landed property within Abuja.
Justice Orji based the ruling on Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), and Sections 163 and 165 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015.
The trial has been adjourned to September 23, 2025.
The Federal Government is prosecuting the senator for allegedly making false accusations implicating Senate President Godswill Akpabio and former Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, in an alleged plot to assassinate her.
In the charge marked CR/297/25, the government alleges that Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan made the statements during a live appearance on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme aired on April 3, 2025. She is accused of knowingly making defamatory claims intended to harm reputations—an offence under Section 391 of the Penal Code, punishable under Section 392.
Those named as prosecution witnesses include Senate President Akpabio and former Governor Yahaya Bello, who are cited as nominal complainants. Other witnesses include two police investigators—Maya Iliya and Abdulhafiz Garba—Senator Asuquo Ekpenyong, and Sandra Duru.
The charges followed a letter the senator wrote to the Attorney-General of the Federation, Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), accusing the police of bias in handling her petitions against the Senate President.
Meanwhile, the Federal High Court in Abuja is set to rule on June 27 on the legality of Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan’s six-month suspension from the Senate. She had approached the court after being summoned by the Senate Ethics Committee over a confrontation with the Senate President on February 20 during plenary.
During that session, the senator protested an alleged arbitrary change to her seat, raising repeated points of order despite being overruled. Her conduct led to her referral to the committee.
In a subsequent television interview on February 28, Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan claimed her ordeal stemmed from her rejection of alleged advances from Senate President Akpabio.
Through an ex-parte application, she has asked the court to declare any actions taken by the Senate Committee while her suit is pending—including her suspension—as “null, void, and of no effect.”
