Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan has instructed her legal team to file an appeal to overturn the High Court decision awarding N1billion in damages in favour of former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello.
Senator Akpoti – Uduaghan gave the instruction on Friday, April 24, shortly after a court sitting in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital returned a verdict ordering her pay N1bn to ex – governor Bello for defaming him.
“We are appealing the judgement. I don’t have N1billion. We will drag the matter to the Supreme Court”
The Kogi Central Representative accused the court of ignoring the evidence presented by her legal team.
The Kogi State Government in 2022 called for the arrest of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.
The government in different national newspapers accused Akpoti-Uduaghan of sponsoring terrorism and orchestrating the July 2022 Kuje Prison break and the Owo Church massacre.
Reacting to the allegation of terrorism, Akpoti-Uduaghan said she was out of the country when the Kuje Prison incident and the Owo Church massacre took place.
“I was never connected to Safiyu at that time ”
She recounted how Yahaya Bello prompted the security agents to arrest her.
“Yahaya Bello accused me of sponsoring terrorism because he wants me out of the ballot. He took the reports to the DSS. He was a constant visitor to DSS, telling them to arrest me. The person Yahaya Bello hangs out with is the sponsor of terrorism, not me. Safiyu was a close ally of Yahaya Bello. He was told to carry out a bad task against me. He said he wasn’t going to do it. The young man refused to mobilize people to hurt me”
Akpoti-Uduaghan recalled the Arise Television interview.
“I shared these pictures with Arise Television presenters. I didn’t know Safiyu. Safiyu was a close associate of Yahaya Bello. If anybody should be questioned about terrorism, it should be Yahaya Bello. If anybody is guilty of terrorism, it should be Yahaya Bello. He is the one who knows how I am involved ”
She urged the former Kogi State Governor to file more defamation charges against her.
Akpoti-Uduaghan who is still consulting on her political future emphasized violence, fear and a high rate of missing people in Kogi State.
