A High Court in Lokoja has ordered Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan to pay N1 billion in damages to former Kogi State governor Yahaya Bello in a defamation case.
The judgment, delivered by Justice A. S. Ibrahim in suit number HCL/16/2023, was contained in a Certified True Copy dated April 23. The court ruled in favour of the claimant after finding that the evidence supported his case on the balance of probabilities.
In his decision, the judge held that comments made by Akpoti-Uduaghan during a November 4, 2022 appearance on The Morning Show on Arise TV were defamatory.
The court found that the senator’s remarks, in which she allegedly described Bello as a “murderer,” “killer,” and “terror to the people of Kogi State,” were unjustified and damaging to his reputation.
Justice Ibrahim also issued a perpetual injunction restraining the defendant, her agents, and associates from making further defamatory statements against the former governor across television, radio, or other platforms.
“The sum of one billion naira (N1,000,000,000) is awarded as damages against the defendant and in favour of the claimant,” the court ruled.
The case followed a suit filed by Bello accusing the senator of defamation. During proceedings, Akpoti-Uduaghan’s counsel, Johnson J. Usman (SAN), challenged the court’s jurisdiction, arguing that the matter constituted an abuse of court process.
However, Bello’s counsel, Friday Ekpa, countered that no similar case involving his client was pending before the Federal Capital Territory High Court.
The Lokoja High Court subsequently affirmed its jurisdiction to hear the case, a decision later upheld by the Court of Appeal in suit number CA/ABJ/CV/626/2024, which dismissed the senator’s appeal for lacking merit.
The ruling marks a significant development in the legal dispute between the two political figures.
