A Federal High Court sitting in Maitama in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has granted bail to the suspended Senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, in the sum of N50 million.
Delivering the ruling, Justice Chizoba Orji dismissed the Federal Government’s request to have the lawmaker remanded in prison custody while her trial proceeds on a three-count charge.
Justice Orji ruled that there was no valid reason to deny the defendant bail, noting that there was sufficient indication she is prepared to face trial.
In addition to the N50 million bail, the court ordered that Akpoti-Uduaghan must produce one surety, described as a person of integrity who owns a landed property in Abuja.
The decision was based 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 until September 23, 2025.
Persecondnews reports that the Federal Government is prosecuting the senator over allegations that she claimed Senate President Godswill Akpabio and former Kogi Governor Yahaya Bello were behind an alleged plot to assassinate her.
In charge CR/297/25, she is accused of making false and defamatory statements during a live appearance on a television programme.
The Senator is alleged to have made “imputation, knowing or having reason to believe that such imputation will harm the reputation of a person,” which, according to the charge, constitutes 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.
The alleged offence occurred on April 3, during a live broadcast of Politics Today on Channels Television.
Among those listed as prosecution witnesses are Akpabio and Bello, who were named as nominal complainants, as well as two police officers, Maya Iliya and Abdulhafiz Garba, Sen. Asuquo Ekpenyong, and Sandra Duru.
The charge, dated May 16, followed a petition by Akpoti-Uduaghan to the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi(SAN), accusing the police of bias in investigating her complaints against the Senate President.
Persecondnews also recalls that the Federal High Court in Abuja has set June 27 as the date to rule on the legality of the six-month suspension handed to the senator by the Senate.
Akpoti-Uduaghan had gone to court after a confrontation with Senate President Akpabio on February 20, during which she was allegedly denied the opportunity to speak and later referred to the Senate Ethics Committee.
In a February 28 television interview, she claimed that her troubles in the Senate began after she rejected advances from the Senate President.
Through an ex-parte motion, she urged the court to declare any actions taken by the committee—including her suspension—null, void, and of no effect pending the resolution of her suit.
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