April 24, (THEWILL) — A High Court in Lokoja, Kogi State, has awarded N1 billion in damages to former governor Yahaya Bello in a defamation suit against Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, while also issuing a perpetual injunction restraining further publication of the disputed claims.
The judgement, delivered by Justice A. S. Ibrahim and contained in a Certified True Copy dated April 23, found that the claimant proved his case on the balance of probabilities, with all issues for determination resolved in his favour.
The dispute arose from a November 4, 2022 interview granted by Natasha on “The Morning Show” on Arise TV, where she allegedly described Bello as a “murderer,” “killer”, “perpetrator of evil acts”, and “a terror to the people of Kogi State”.
In his ruling, Justice Ibrahim held that the statements were defamatory and not supported by any justification.
“The interview granted by the defendant… is defamatory to the claimant’s character and reputation”, the court said, stressing that the allegations made during the broadcast were “without justification”.
The court consequently restrained the defendant, her agents, privies, or associates from further publishing or causing to be published the said or similar defamatory statements on any media platform.
“The sum of one billion naira (N1,000,000,000) is awarded as damages against the Defendant and in favour of the Claimant”, the court ruled.
The suit had earlier witnessed a jurisdictional challenge by defence counsel, Johnson J. Usman, SAN, who argued that the matter constituted an abuse of court process in view of related cases before the Federal Capital Territory High Court.
Counsel to the claimant, Friday Ekpa, opposed the objection, maintaining that none of the cases before the FCT High Court directly involved Bello. The trial court upheld that position and affirmed its jurisdiction.
Natasha’s subsequent appeal in “CA/ABJ/CV/626/2024” was dismissed by the Court of Appeal for lacking merit, thereby clearing the path for the High Court to proceed with the substantive matter.
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