The Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday postponed the planned commencement of the cybercrime trial of suspended Kogi Central Senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, following a preliminary objection raised by her legal team.
Akpoti-Uduaghan is standing trial on a six-count charge, marked FHC/ABJ/CR/195/2025, filed by the Federal Government under the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) (Amendment) Act, 2024. She was first arraigned on June 30 and granted bail on self-recognition.
The prosecution, led by the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation, Mohammed Abubakar, alleges that the senator spread false and damaging information through electronic means with the intent to incite violence, endanger lives, and disturb public peace.
According to the charge, Akpoti-Uduaghan, while addressing a crowd in Ihima, Kogi State, on April 4, 2025, accused Senate President Godswill Akpabio of instructing former Kogi governor Yahaya Bello to arrange her killing within the state. She allegedly repeated the claim during a television interview, asserting that both men conspired against her.
Her counsel, Ehiogie West-Idahosa, SAN, argued that the defence had not been served with statements from the prosecution’s witnesses, rendering the proceedings defective. Prosecuting counsel David Kaswe, however, maintained that the objection should not delay the trial.
Justice Mohammed Umar ruled that the objection must be addressed before the case could proceed. He subsequently adjourned the matter to October 20, when the objection and the substantive trial will be taken up.
