Sunday Ejike, Author at Tribune Online

The Federal Government on Monday arraigned the suspended Senator representing Kogi Central in the Senate, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, before a Federal High Court in Abuja over alleged cybercrime against Senate President Godswill Obot Akpabio and former governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello. Natasha was arraigned by the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice on fresh six-count criminal charges bordering on harmful imputations made during public comments and a television interview. The suspended senator, who was accompanied by her husband to the courtroom, pleaded not guilty to all the charges preferred against her by the Federal Government. The Senate President had, in a petition to the Inspector General of Police (IGP), complained about the damage done to his reputation by Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who accused him (Akpabio) of planning to eliminate her in Kogi State. Following a police investigation, Senator Natasha was subsequently docked for cybercrime against the Senate President and the former Kogi State governor. ALSO READ: Alleged defamation: Senator Natasha arraigned, granted N50m bail Natasha's cybercrime allegations in the charge, marked FHC/ABJ/CR/195/2025 and rooted in cybercrime provisions, revolve around her alleged transmission of false and injurious information via electronic means, allegedly calculated to malign, incite, endanger lives, and breach public order. Among the particulars of the cybercrime charge are claims that Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, while addressing a gathering on April 4, 2025, in Ihima, Kogi State, alleged that Senator Akpabio instructed Yahaya Bello to have her eliminated in Kogi State. Similarly, in a television interview, she allegedly repeated this narrative, suggesting a murderous conspiracy against her life by Akpabio and Yahaya Bello. Following her plea of not guilty to the six-count charge, the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation (DPPF), Mohammed Abubakar, asked the trial judge, Justice Mohammed Umar, for a date to commence trial. However, Natasha’s lawyer, Professor Roland Otaru, SAN, got the permission of the court to move the bail application for the defendant. In moving the bail application, Otaru, who urged the judge to exercise his discretion in favour of Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, argued that the suspended senator was not a flight risk and would not interfere with police investigations or witnesses. Besides, he submitted that the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended, presumes her innocent, while the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, emphasizes bail in such offences. The DPPF admitted receiving the application and said he did not file a counter-affidavit against the request. However, he urged the court to grant bail in a way that would compel the senator to be available in court for her trial. Having not opposed the bail application, the judge admitted Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan to bail on self-recognition and subsequently adjourned the matter till September 22 for the commencement of trial. NIGERIAN TRIBUNE