By Paul Dada
Justice Chizoba Orji of the Federal Capital Territory High Court has granted suspended senator, Natasha Akpoti-Udaughan in the sum of N50 million in a defamation suit brought against her.
The court also ordered that she must produce a surety in like sum. The surety as ordered by the court must be a reside and own a landed property in the Abuja Municipal Area Council.
The ruling of the court came after Akpoti-Uduaghan, had pleaded not guilty to the defamation charge brought against her by the Federal Government.
She is facing a three-count charge filed by the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Mohammed Abubakar, on behalf of the Federal Government.
The charge, marked CR/297/25, accuses Akpoti-Uduaghan of making defamatory statements against Senate President Godswill Akpabio and former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello.
The Federal Government says she claimed that Bello had conspired with Akpabio to orchestrate her assassination.
The alleged defamatory statements were made during a live broadcast on Channels Television’s Politics Today on April 3, 2025, and in a telephone conversation with Sandra C. Duru on March 27, 2025.
The Federal Government argues that Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan deliberately made the claims being fully aware that they could harm the reputation of the individuals involved.
Senate President Akpabio, Yahaya Bello, and four others have been listed as witnesses in the suit.
