BREAKING: Bello Accuses Natasha Of Defamation, Petitions IGP For Her Arrest
FORMER Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, has filed a petition with the Inspector General of Police (IGP), accusing Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, a senator who represents Kogi Central District, of making defamatory statements against him.......CONTINUE READING THE ARTICLE FROM THE SOURCE>>>>>
Bello, through a petition signed by his lawyer, N.A. Abubakar, submitted to the IGP on Wednesday, April 16, called on the police to invite Akpoti-Uduaghan to present credible evidence backing her allegations against him.
The former Kogi governor alleged that during a homecoming event on April 1, 2025, in Okehi Local Government Area, the female lawmaker “maliciously” defamed him and accused him of being involved in an assassination plot.
The ICIR reported that Natasha staged her homecoming rally on April 1 in Kogi State, despite the State Police Command’s directive to cancel the rally.
The state government, led by Governor Usman Ododo, had on March 31 banned political gatherings in the state and went as far as declaring a curfew in her Okehi Local Government Area (LGA), which many believed targeted the lawmaker’s planned rally.
The government also warned that anyone coming into the state with a convoy of security personnel must seek clearance.
“Where she fails to do so, cause her to be arrested and prosecuted in accordance with the provisions of the law for criminal defamation, inciting public disturbance, and spreading false information injurious to public peace,” the lawyer wrote in the petition.
The lawyer also said that the utterances made against the Bello were not only false, reckless, and inciting, but “they constitute serious criminal defamation, false accusation and incitement to public disorder, all of which are offences under the Nigerian law.”
Bello claims that the senator’s actions violated Section 24(1)(b) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc..) Act, 2015.
“By accusing our client of plotting an assassination and naming him as a co-conspirator in a purported murder plot (with an attempt to disguise the killing as mob or ethnic violence), Sen. Akpoti-Uduaghan has:
“Gravely damaged our client’s reputation by portraying him as a violent and vengeful political actor, and misled the public and tried to incite ethnic and political distrust, especially among the clans of Ebiraland in particular and the people of Kogi Central in general.
“Brought his name into disrepute based on an allegation so weighty that, if left unchallenged, could harm his political career and personal safety; and abused her parliamentary status and platform by propagating such falsehoods without evidence, in a very public and politically charged setting,” the solicitor said.