Court adjourns Senator Natasha Akpoti’s defamation objection hearing to December 1

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Maitama, Abuja, on Monday, October 27, adjourned the hearing of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghans preliminary objection in her defamation trial against Senate President Godswill Akpabio and former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello to December 1, 2025. Justice Chizoba Oji fixed the new date after the prosecution counsel, David Kaswe, informed the court that although the hearing was scheduled for that day, the prosecution had not yet served its response to the defence team, even though the response had already been filed with the court. Akpoti-Uduaghan, the senator representing Kogi Central, was arraigned on June 19 on a three-count charge of harmful imputation, filed by the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF). The charge, marked FCT/HC/CR/297/25, accuses the senator of making statements that allegedly defamed both Akpabio and Bello. Prosecutors allege that she claimed Akpabio conspired with Bello to kill her and further made similar imputations linking Akpabio to the death of Miss Iniobong Umoren. Akpoti-Uduaghan has pleaded not guilty to all charges. During the previous court session on September 23, her counsel, Ehighioge West-Idahosa (SAN), informed the court that the defence had filed a notice of preliminary objection, arguing that the AGFs office had abused its prosecutorial powers. The objection, he clarified, did not challenge the content of the charges but their validity, describing it as a threshold jurisdictional matter. West-Idahosa added that the objection was served on the AGFs office on September 18, but no formal response was received. At Mondays sitting, Kaswe explained that the prosecutions counter-affidavit had been sent to an incorrect address, which did not belong to any of the defence lawyers. He therefore requested a short adjournment to ensure proper service of the response, saying, It would not be fair for the prosecution to insist that the matter proceed when the defence team has indicated its intention to respond to our counter. We are, therefore, asking for a short adjournment to enable us to effect proper service. West-Idahosa confirmed that none of the defendants lawyers had received the counter-affidavit, noting, The prosecutions counter was not served on any of the defendants lawyers. We intend to respond when we are properly served, as we have additional evidence to file. He also requested a longer adjournment, citing that members of the defence team would be attending the International Bar Association Conference in Canada. After hearing both parties, Justice Oji granted the request and adjourned the case to December 1, 2025, for the hearing of the preliminary objection.The post Court adjourns Senator Natasha Akpotis defamation objection hearing to December 1 appeared first on Linda Ikeji Blog.