Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan of Kogi Central has asked the Federal High Court, Abuja, to dismiss the six-count charge filed against her by the Federal Government, describing it as a flagrant abuse of prosecutorial powers and a politically driven effort to shield powerful figures from accountability.
In her motion filed through her legal team, Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan alleged that the charges constitute an abuse of legal process, a violation of due process, and a deliberate attempt to protect Senate President Godswill Akpabio and former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello from public scrutiny.
Her counsel argued that the prosecution was initiated not in the public interest, but rather to serve private and political objectives. They maintained that the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) acted contrary to the constitutional principles guiding the exercise of prosecutorial powers as outlined in Section 174(3) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
According to the motion, that section mandates the AGF to act only in the public interest, the interest of justice, and to prevent abuse of legal process, standards the senator insists were ignored in her case.
“The prosecution serves no public purpose and amounts to a gross abuse of legal authority,” the senator stated in her filing.
In an affidavit supporting her motion, Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan argued that the six-count charge, filed on May 22, 2025, was initiated in bad faith. She contended that the alleged defamatory statements cited in the case were directed at Senator Akpabio and Yahaya Bello in their personal capacities, not in relation to their public offices.
The lawmaker also attached several newspaper publications to support her claims, describing them as public records that expose “the true nature of the person of the Senate President.”
She further claimed that the petitions and circumstances leading to her prosecution arose from personal and political rivalry, with no benefit to the Nigerian public.
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