The immediate past Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello yesterday petitioned the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) over alleged defamatory statements against him by suspended Senator Natasha AkpotiUduaghan.

In his petition, Bello asked the police to invite Akpoti-Uduaghan to substantiate her allegation against him with credible evidence.

He wrote: “Where she fails to do so, cause her to be arrested and prosecuted in accordance with the provisions of the law for criminal defamation, inciting public disturbance and spreading false information injurious to public peace.”

He said the utterances made against the former governor were not only false, reckless and inciting, but “they constitute serious criminal defamation, false accusation and incitement to public disorder, all of which are offences under the Nigerian law”.

The former governor, through his lawyer, also demanded the retraction and public apology over the said defamatory statements.

He said: “While addressing attendees at the rally, Akpoti-Uduaghan falsely and maliciously uttered the following words in reference to our client: ‘(Senate President Godswill) Akpabio sent for Yahaya Bello.

And it was actually Senator Asuquo from Cross River that drove Yahaya Bello from Hilton Hotel. “I was informed of everything and what I got to know of the meeting was in two folds.

“He told him to commence my recall and that he was going to fund it – of course, monies changed hands that night. “The second thing he told him was that he should try and kill me.

I didn’t make this public, but I wrote to the IG of Police. “Akpabio told Yahaya Bello. He told him that he should make sure that killing me does not happen in Abuja, that it should be done here, so it would seem as if it’s the people that killed me here …’

“That these utterances are not only false, reckless and inciting, but they constitute serious criminal defamation, false accusation and incitement to public disorder, all of which are offences under Nigerian law.”

He said Section 24(1)(b) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc.) Act, 2015, penalises a person who knowingly or intentionally sends false messages or information through a computer or network likely to cause harm to the reputation of another person.

He added that, in Akpoti-Uduaghan’s case, she caused videos of her above statement to be widely circulated online where it has continued to trend till date with the clear intention of causing harm to the reputation of the former governor against Sections 114 and 140 of the Penal Code (applicable in Northern Nigeria) – which criminalises giving false information with intent to mislead public officers or the public.

The petitioner said: “By accusing our client of plotting an assassination and naming him as a co-conspirator in a purported murder plot (with an attempt to disguise the killing as mob or ethnic violence), Sen. AkpotiUduaghan has:

“Gravely damaged our client’s reputation by portraying him as a violent and vengeful political actor and misled the public and tried to incite ethnic and political distrust, especially among clans of Ebiraland in particular and the people of Kogi Central in general.