Justice Chizoba Oji of an Abuja High Court on Tuesday adjourned until October 27 the hearing in a preliminary objection raised by Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.

Ms Akpoti-Uduaghan, representing Kogi Central District, is alleged to have defamed Senate President Godswill Akpabio and former governor of Kogi, Yahaya Bello.

Mr Oji adjourned the matter following objections raised by the senator against the competence of the charge.

Ehighioge West-Idahosa, SAN, counsel for Ms Akpoti-Uduaghan, predicated the objections on the alleged abuse of prosecutorial powers by the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF).

He said filing charge against her at the Federal High Court and the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory on the same subject matter and with the same complaints, was an abuse of court procedure

Earlier, David Kaswe, prosecution counsel, informed the court of his readiness to open the case against the defendant.

He claimed to have his first witness, Abdulhafeez Garba, in court to testify against the defendant.

He prayed for permission of the court to call the witness into the witness box.

This was, however, objected to by Mr West-Idahosa on the grounds that his client has filed a motion on notice, challenging the competence of the charges and the jurisdiction of the court.

He added that the motion has been served on the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) as required by law but that the AGF had not responded.

Mr Kaswe argued that he ought to have been served personally or be informed on the phone of the filing of the motion and requested that Ms Akpoti-Uduaghan’s claim be rejected.

However, Mr Oji found in the case file that the AGF office was served with the motion but had not responded as required by law.

At this point, Mr Kaswe admitted that the AGF had been out of the country and, as such, had not made the motion available to him.

After listening to the parties’ arguments, Mr Oji held that the proper thing was to shift the trial to enable AGF to respond to the motion in the interest of a fair hearing.

The judge subsequently adjourned until October 27 for Ms Akpoti-Uduaghan’s motion to be heard alongside the response of the AGF.

She was arraigned earlier on a three-count criminal charge bordering on harmful imputations during a television interview.

She, however, pleaded not guilty.

She was admitted to bail in the sum of N50 million and one surety in the like sum in the charge marked CR/297/25 filed on May 15, 2025.

The judge added that the surety must be an owner of landed property within the jurisdiction of the court. 

(NAN)