Yahaya Bello Wins Defamation Suit Against Natasha Akpoti, Awarded ₦1 Billion

LOKOJA, NIGERIA — A High Court sitting in Lokoja has ordered Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan to pay N1 billion in damages to the former Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, over defamatory remarks made during a television interview.

The judgment, delivered by Justice A. S. Ibrahim in the suit marked HCL/16/2023, found that the Senator failed to justify several damaging allegations leveled against the former governor. The court’s decision was contained in a Certified True Copy dated April 23, which was made available to the public on Friday.

The legal battle centered on a 2022 appearance by the Senator on Arise TV’s “The Morning Show.” During the broadcast, Akpoti-Uduaghan allegedly characterized Bello as a “murderer” and a “terror to the people of Kogi State,” descriptions the court has now ruled were libelous.

In his ruling, Justice Ibrahim held that the evidence presented by the claimant outweighed the defense’s arguments. The judge noted that the defendant’s words were defamatory to Bello’s character and reputation and were uttered without legal justification.

Beyond the monetary penalty, the court slammed a perpetual injunction on Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan. This order restrains her, along with her agents and associates, from further publishing or broadcasting defamatory statements against the former governor.

The road to this verdict was marked by intense legal maneuvering over jurisdiction. Defense counsel Johnson J. Usman, SAN, had argued that the suit constituted an abuse of court process, a claim countered by Bello’s lawyer, Friday Ekpa.

According to documents obtained by NaijaChoice News, the matter traveled as far as the Court of Appeal after the Senator challenged the Lokoja High Court’s authority to hear the case. However, the appellate court dismissed her appeal, affirming that the Kogi State High Court was the proper venue for the litigation.

The N1 billion award marks a significant legal victory for the former governor, highlighting the increasing judicial scrutiny on political discourse and the legal consequences of public allegations in Nigeria.

This judgment reinforces the boundary between political criticism and character assassination within the Nigerian political space.