The Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday declined the Federal Government’s request for an arrest warrant against the suspended senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, over her absence in court for arraignment in a defamation case. Justice Muhammed Umar, who presided over the matter, ruled that it was inappropriate to issue a bench warrant since Akpoti-Uduaghan had not previously been served with the charge or hearing notice. The judge emphasized that without formal service, it would be unreasonable to expect her presence in court. This decision followed the submission by government counsel, David Kaswe, who claimed the charge had been served on Akpoti-Uduaghan’s lawyer earlier that day in the courtroom. He argued that the senator ought to have known about the arraignment through her legal representative. Justice Umar, however, rejected this argument, stressing that service on counsel alone does not establish that the defendant was aware of the proceedings. In response to the ruling, the prosecution applied for substituted service of the charge through her lawyer, Johnson Usman. The application was granted, and the court fixed June 30 for the senator’s arraignment. The defamation charge was filed by the Director of Public Prosecutions, Mohammed Abubakar, on behalf of the Federal Government. Akpoti-Uduaghan is the sole defendant in the suit, which accuses her of making defamatory claims during a live broadcast on *Politics Today*, aired on Channels Television on April 3, 2025. According to the charge, Akpoti-Uduaghan alleged that former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello conspired with Senate President Godswill Akpabio to have her assassinated outside Abuja and cover it up as a mob or local attack. Both Bello and Akpabio are listed as nominal complainants. The Federal Government claims the senator knowingly or recklessly made the statements, fully aware of their damaging potential to the reputations of those named. She is alleged to have said, “Let’s ask the Senate President, why in the first instance did he withdraw my security, if not to make me vulnerable to attacks? He then emphasised that I should be killed, but I should be killed in Kogi. What is important to me is to stay alive, because dead men tell no tales. Who is going to get justice for me?” The charge also cites her statements during the programme, “That you, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, on or about the 3rd day of April 2025, during the same Politics Today programme on Channels Television in Abuja, Federal Capital Territory, made the following imputation concerning Yahaya Adoza Bello, former Governor of Kogi State. “It was part of the meeting, the discussions that Akpabio had with Yahaya Bello that night, to eliminate me. When he met with him, he then emphasised that I should be killed, but I should be killed in Kogi.’ You knew or had reason to believe that such imputations would harm the reputation of Yahaya Adoza Bello, former Governor of Kogi State.” The senator is also accused of making defamatory statements about Senate President Akpabio during a telephone conversation with Sandra C. Duru in Abuja on 27 March 2025. The alleged statement reads, “That girl that was killed, what’s her name, umm Imoren Iniubong, her organs were actually used for the wife, because the wife was really ill… when they killed the girl, and her organs were used for the wife.” The Federal Government contends that Akpoti-Uduaghan knew or ought to have known that this claim would harm the reputation of Akpabio. Also, the Senate President, Bello, and four others have been listed as witnesses for the trial.