Suspended Kogi Central Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan has confirmed moves by the Federal Government to arrest her following criminal defamation charges filed against her by the Department of Public Prosecutions of the Federation (DPPF) under the Federal Ministry of Justice.
At a hearing on Monday, the Federal High Court in Abuja refused a request from prosecutors to issue a bench warrant for her arrest.
Presiding Judge Justice M.G. Umar dismissed the application on grounds that the charges were only served on her counsel minutes before the hearing commenced.
“How do you expect her to be in court this morning if she was only served today? I will not grant your application if she was served this morning,” the judge ruled.
The charges stem from an April 3 interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, during which Akpoti-Uduaghan accused Senate President Godswill Akpabio and former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello of plotting to assassinate her.
Reacting to the development, Senator Natasha took to her verified Facebook page to confirm the charges and the government’s attempt to arrest her.
“Fellow Nigerians,
Pursuant to petitions from Senator Godswill Akpabio and Ex Governor Yahaya Bello, the Federal Government of Nigeria has filed two separate charges against me,” she stated.
According to her, the cases are as follows:
Case 1: CHARGE NO: FCT/CR/297/2025, scheduled for arraignment on June 19, 2025, at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory.
Case 2: CHARGE NO: FHC/ABJ/CR/195/2025, listed for June 30, 2025, at the Federal High Court.
She explained that despite not receiving official service ahead of time, she instructed her lawyer, J.J. Usman, SAN, to attend court and collect the charges on her behalf. Service was eventually effected at 9:18 a.m., shortly before proceedings began.
“Suddenly, the Prosecuting Counsel thereafter applied for bench warrant against me, which my Counsel stiffly opposed,” she wrote.
“Gratefully, the court rejected the bench warrant for my arrest.”
Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan said she will appear in court on both dates.
“As a law-abiding citizen, I shall be in court for my arraignment on the 19th of June 2025 at 11 a.m. before the FCT High Court and also on the 30th of June 2025 for the second arraignment accordingly.
For truth and justice;
By God and the people.”
The embattled senator is currently serving a six-month suspension from the Senate.
The article was originally published on Politics Nigeria.
