Court orders substituted service against Senator Nwaebonyi in Natasha’s defamation suit

A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory has granted an order for substituted service against Onyekachi Nwaebonyi, the senator representing Ebonyi North, in a defamation suit filed by his Kogi Central counterpart, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.

Presiding judge Angela Otaluka granted the application on Wednesday following a motion ex parte filed by Natasha, who is seeking to serve the Ebonyi senator through alternative means after unsuccessful attempts at personal service.

During proceedings, Natasha’s counsel, Yahuza Zakari, urged the court to permit service of court documents by publishing them in a national newspaper or delivering them through the clerk of the National Assembly or the Senate.

“There is need to serve the originating processes and any other incidental process via substituted means in order to bring this matter to the defendant’s attention, owing to the impractical nature of serving the defendant personally,” the application stated.

“That service of the processes by publication in a widely circulated national daily newspaper in Nigeria, or through the clerk of the national assembly or the clerk of the senate, will bring the suit to the attention of the defendant.

“This honourable court has the inherent jurisdiction to grant an order for substituted service with or without an attempt to personally serve, depending on the circumstances. It will be in the interest of justice for service to be effected through substitute means.”

Granting the motion, Justice Otaluka ordered that the senator be served via newspaper publication.

The case, marked CV/1359/2025 and filed in April, stems from comments Nwaebonyi allegedly made during a March 6 interview on Channels Television. Natasha contends the statements were “false and malicious”.

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According to the suit, Nwaebonyi referred to her as a “gold digger, habitual liar, and habitual blackmailer” during the broadcast. 

The Kogi senator also took issue with remarks suggesting she is “a mother of six from different men”, describing them as “false, malicious, and defamatory”.

She claimed the comments caused substantial harm to her reputation and brought her public embarrassment.

Natasha is asking the court to restrain Nwaebonyi from making any further “malicious” statements and is seeking N5 billion in “aggravated and exemplary damages in favour of the claimant for the false, malicious and injurious statement”.

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