A High Court in Lokoja has ordered Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan to pay ₦1 billion in damages to former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello for defamatory statements made during a 2022 television appearance.
The judgment, delivered in suit number HCL/16/2023 on April 23, 2026, also imposed a perpetual injunction restraining the senator, her agents or associates from further defamatory remarks against Bello on any media platform.
The court ruled that Akpoti-Uduaghan’s description of Bello as a “murderer, killer, perpetrator of evil acts and a terror to the people of Kogi State” during her appearance on The Morning Show on November 4, 2022, was unjustified and injurious to his reputation.
“The sum of one billion naira (N1,000,000,000) only is awarded as damages against the Defendant and in favour of the Claimant,” the court stated.
Bello instituted the suit in 2023, alleging that the statements damaged his character. The trial court resolved the issues in his favour based on the preponderance of evidence.
Akpoti-Uduaghan, representing Kogi Central Senatorial District, had challenged the court’s jurisdiction, describing the suit as an abuse of process through her counsel, Johnson J. Usman, SAN. The Court of Appeal (appeal number CA/ABJ/CV/626/2024) however upheld the trial court’s jurisdiction.
The senator has rejected the ruling and indicated plans to challenge the ₦1 billion award at the appellate court.
The case highlights the growing use of defamation suits by public figures in Nigeria to protect their reputations amid intense political rivalries, particularly in Kogi State where Akpoti-Uduaghan and Bello have had a long-standing feud.
