By Wandoo Sombo
The Federal High Court, Abuja, has , rejected an application by the Federal Government to issue a bench warrant against suspended Kogi Central Senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, in an alleged defamation case brought against her.
The government is prosecuting Akpoti-Uduaghan on behalf of Senate President, Godswill Akpabio and former Kogi Governor, Yahaya Bello.
At the hearing of the matter on Monday, the prosecuting counsel, Mr D.D. Kasue, told the court that the matter is for arraignment but that the defendant is not in court.
Kasue told the court that he served the charge on the defendant’s counsel saying this means the defendant is aware of the matter.
The prosecutor then prayed the court for a bench warrant to be issued against the defendant for failing to appear in court in spite of being aware of the charge against her.
“It was this morning that we were able to serve the defendant through her counsel but the defendant is not in court.
“So it means the defendant is aware of this matter but decided not to appear in court, in the light of this, I apply that a bench warrant be issued against her for failure to attend court to take her plea in this criminal charge,” Kasue said.
Counsel to Akpoti-Uduaghan, Mr Jacob Usman, SAN, in a swift reaction, opposed the application for a bench warrant saying the application is strange and uncourteous.
Usman told the court that when he got wind of the pendency of the suit, he called the prosecutor to let him know that his client had asked him to receive the charge on her behalf.
“I was served the charge at 9:15 this morning here in court so how will the defendant know that the matter is coming up when she has not seen the charge?
“I find the application strange and it should be dishonoured, if the defendant has not been served, she cannot be in court,” he said.
He prayed the court to dis-countenance the application as it was made in bad taste.
The trial judge, Justice Musa Umar, asked the prosecutor if he had served the charge on the defendant to which he answered in the negative.
Justice Umar, therefore, said that it was impossible to grant the application of the prosecutor and issue a bench warrant for the arrest of the defendant when she had not been served.
He refused the application for a bench warrant and rather granted the application for substituted service through her counsel which the prosecutor made in what seemed to be an afterthought.
The judge adjourned the matter until June 30 for arraignment.
Speaking to newsmen after the proceedings, Usman said that there was no way his client could have been in court when he was served the charge in court.
“Today, the matter was slated for arraignment, however, she has not been served until this morning.
“Upon inquiry from the registry while we were in court this morning that the matter was fixed for today, she gave me the instruction to receive the charge on her behalf and I so did.
“The prosecutor applied for a bench warrant against her for not appearing in court which we opposed and the court agreed with us.
“You cannot serve someone through their counsel in court and expect the person to be in court , the person is not clevoyant that she will know there is charge against her that she should be in court so the court disagreed with the application to issue a bench warrant.
“The court rather adjourned the matter until June 30 for her to take her plea.”
The charge is stemmed from a television programme Akpoti-Uduaghan appeared on in April where she allegedly made defamatory comments against Akpabio and Bello.