A Excessive Court docket sitting in Lokoja has ordered Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan to pay N1 billion in damages to former Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello, over a defamation case.
The ruling brings to an in depth a authorized battle that has drawn consideration throughout political circles within the state.
The judgment, dated April 23, was contained in a Licensed True Copy launched after proceedings in Lokoja. The courtroom dominated in favour of Bello after contemplating the arguments offered by each events.
Justice A. S. Ibrahim, who presided over the case marked “HCL/16/2023”, mentioned the choice was primarily based on the load of proof earlier than the courtroom. He acknowledged that the problems raised for willpower had been resolved in favour of the claimant.
“The interview granted by the defendant on 4/11/2022 on Come up TV programme of ‘The Morning Present’ is defamatory to the claimant’s character and repute,” the decide dominated.
“The mentioned interview of 4/11/2022 by which the defendant described the claimant as a assassin, killer, perpetrator of evil acts, and a terror to the folks of Kogi State was with out justification.”
The courtroom additionally issued a strict order to forestall any repeat of such statements. It granted “an order of perpetual injunction in opposition to the Defendant, [his] brokers, privies or associates”, restraining them from making additional defamatory feedback in opposition to Bello on any media platform.
As well as, the courtroom awarded damages in opposition to the senator. “The sum of 1 billion naira (N1,000,000,000) solely (is) awarded as damages in opposition to the Defendant and in favour of the Claimant,” the courtroom declared.
The case stemmed from feedback made by Akpoti-Uduaghan throughout a televised interview in November 2022. Bello approached the courtroom, arguing that the remarks broken his repute and standing.
In the course of the proceedings, counsel to the defendant, Johnson J. Usman, SAN, had challenged the jurisdiction of the courtroom. He argued that the swimsuit amounted to an abuse of courtroom course of. Nevertheless, Bello’s lawyer, Friday Ekpa, opposed the declare, insisting that the case was correctly filed.
The trial courtroom dismissed the objection and affirmed its authority to listen to the matter. Dissatisfied with that call, Akpoti-Uduaghan took the case to the Court docket of Attraction.
The appellate courtroom, in swimsuit quantity “CA/ABJ/CV/626/2024”, upheld the sooner ruling. It dismissed the attraction for missing benefit and confirmed that the Kogi State Excessive Court docket had the jurisdiction to deal with the case.