The High Court in Lokoja has told Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who represents Kogi Central, to pay ₦1 billion in a defamation lawsuit brought by Yahaya Bello, the former Governor of Kogi State.
During an interview with ARISE Television, it was remembered that Bello had sued Natasha for defamation of character.
The court ruled in favor of the claimant in the Certified True Copy of the judgment that NAN got on April 23 in Lokoja. The court said that based on the preponderance of evidence or balance of probabilities, the claimant won.
Justice A. S. Ibrahim ruled on Friday that the two issues raised in the suit marked “HCL/16/2023” were resolved in favor of the claimant at the end of the suit.
The court also issued “an order of perpetual injunction against the Defendant, [his] agents, privies or associates,” which means that they are not allowed to make any more false statements or words about the claimant on TV or radio stations.
The court said, “The interview that the defendant gave on the Arise TV show ‘The Morning Show’ on 4/11/2022 is damaging to the claimant’s reputation and character.”
The defendant’s interview on 4/11/2022, in which they called the claimant a murderer, killer, evil-doer, and terror to the people of Kogi State, was not justified.
“The Claimant is awarded damages of only one billion naira (N1,000,000,000) against the Defendant.”
