A Kogi State High Court sitting in Lokoja has awarded ₦1 billion in damages against Senator Natasha Akpoti‑Uduaghan in a defamation suit filed by former Governor Yahaya Bello. The judgment, delivered by Justice A. S. Ibrahim on April 23, 2026, found that the senator’s remarks during a November 4, 2022 appearance on Arise TV’s The Morning Show were defamatory and unjustified. The court held that Bello successfully proved his case on the balance of probabilities, establishing that the statements had significantly injured his reputation.
In addition to the monetary award, the court issued a perpetual injunction restraining Senator Akpoti‑Uduaghan, her agents, and associates from making further defamatory statements against Bello across any media platform. The judge noted that the interview included descriptions of Bello as a “murderer,” “killer,” and “perpetrator of evil acts,” which the court ruled were not supported by evidence and therefore amounted to defamation. The ruling emphasized that the claims lacked legal justification and resolved all issues in favour of the former governor.
The case had previously faced jurisdictional challenges, with the senator’s legal team arguing that the suit constituted an abuse of court process. However, both the High Court and the Court of Appeal upheld the Lokoja court’s jurisdiction, dismissing the appeal for lacking merit. Following the judgment, Senator Akpoti‑Uduaghan rejected the ruling and announced her intention to appeal, insisting that her comments were made in the public interest and that the court failed to properly evaluate the evidence she presented.
NewsMaximum