A Federal High Court sitting in Kogi State has ordered Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan to pay one billion naira in damages to former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, over a defamation case.
The development comes after Bello took the senator to court over comments she made during a 2023 interview on Arise TV.
In that interview, she made allegations against him while he was still in office as governor accusing him of being a serial killer.
After hearing both sides, the court ruled in favour of Bello. It ordered Akpoti-Uduaghan to pay one billion naira as general damages and also stopped her from making further statements considered defamatory against him.
During the case, the senator defended herself through her lawyers. She said her comments were based on events linked to the 2023 general elections. However, the court said the evidence presented did not meet the legal requirement to support her claims.
After the judgment, Akpoti-Uduaghan reacted publicly and rejected the court decision. She accused Bello of influencing the outcome and questioned the fairness of the ruling.
She also reacted to a post by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on social media about Bello’s ongoing corruption trial.
In her reaction, she called on the agency to speed up its work and alleged that the judgment was connected to an attempt to recover money she said would later be returned to government.
“Dear Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, kindly hurry up. Do you know he procured a Kogi state High Court judgment of N1 billion against me yesterday. Can you imagine him thinking I would pay so he can add to the stolen monies he would refund. Yeye… shi shi he no go see,” she said.
People close to the senator said her legal team has been directed to challenge the judgment at the appeal court.
Akpoti-Uduaghan and Bello are political rivals in Kogi State. Both are expected to contest for the Kogi Central Senate seat under different political parties in 2027.
