PRESIDENT TINUBU KEPT IN THE DARK AS AGF FILES CRIMINAL CHARGES AGAINST SENATOR NATASHA AKPOTI
Justice Minister, Lateef Fagbemi SAN filed criminal charges "on behalf of Nigerians" against Senator Natasha who exposed sexual harassment at the senate, without the approval of the President Tinubu.
There is a dangerous silence growing in Nigeria, and the noise it is breeding may shake the very foundation of our democracy. In March 2024, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan submitted a petition against Senate President Godswill Akpabio for sexual harassment. Rather than investigate the matter, the Senate under Akpabio’s leadership suspended her within 24 hours of submitting the petition. Yes, a sitting senator who dared to speak out was thrown out of the chamber for demanding accountability. Within hours of that suspension, her security details were withdrawn, her access to official Senate privileges was terminated, and she was practically left exposed, like a sheep in the open market surrounded by hungry wolves.
Left with no other option, Senator Natasha went to Channels Television to cry out publicly, stating clearly that her life was under threat and directly mentioned Akpabio and Yahaya Bello, the former Kogi governor, as persons of interest in her ordeal. This wasn’t a political speech, but a cry from a cornered citizen who once again proved that in Nigeria, speaking truth to power is more dangerous than stealing from the treasury. Two weeks after that interview, her home in Kogi State was invaded by unknown armed men. By sheer divine intervention, she wasn’t present. Had she been there, we might be writing tributes today instead of this article.
Rather than investigate these events and protect her, what did the Federal Government do? Nothing. No government official condemned the attack or lifted a finger to investigate or even an inquiry. Instead, last week, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Lateef Fagbemi SAN, filed a criminal defamation suit before the Federal High Court in Abuja. According to court documents, Fagbemi is suing Natasha “on behalf of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,”accusing her of false allegations against Senator Akpabio and Yahaya Bello. So we must ask: Who sent Fagbemi?
By the principles of law, defamation is not a crime against the state unless the state itself is the object of the attack. Senator Natasha never accused the Federal Republic of anything. She accused two powerful individuals. If those individuals feel wronged, they are very capable of filing a civil suit on their own. Yahaya Bello has enough lawyers, unless he’s too busy dodging the EFCC. Akpabio is the Senate President, not a helpless street vendor. Why then has the Attorney General dragged the entire Nigerian population of over 200 million into a private quarrel? Since when did defending Senator Akpabio become the constitutional duty of the Minister of Justice?
Every day, we see political operatives manipulating state institutions to silence dissent, but this particular case is troubling on a new level. The Attorney General is not a personal lawyer to any senator or former governor. His loyalty is to the Constitution and to the Nigerian people. So what exactly justifies filing criminal charges in the name of the Federal Republic without the President’s authorisation? From all public records available, President Tinubu has not instructed any prosecution against Natasha. If this is true, then Fagbemi has overstepped the limits of his office and must answer to the Nigerian people. We cannot allow state machinery to be hijacked by political grudges.
If we call this what it is, it becomes very simple as a “Weaponisation of the State.” This is no longer about defamation or free speech, but about silencing a woman who had the audacity to challenge the highest man in the Senate. It’s about punishing a senator for daring to say, “I was harassed, and I will not keep quiet.” The federal institutions that were supposed to protect her turned into her accusers. Fagbemi has now crossed a line that no Attorney General in a democratic system should ever cross. He has converted the judiciary into a bomb mine for political warfare.
The Attorney General’s suit is not just illegal in spirit, but unconstitutional in execution. No law empowers him to file a criminal defamation case on behalf of a government that never laid any complaint. It is neither the duty of Nigeria to fight Akpabio’s battles, nor is it the business of over 200 million Nigerians to rescue Yahaya Bello’s damaged reputation. If Senator Natasha must face the court, it must be in a civil defamation suit, not a criminal one initiated under false representation. This is not just an abuse of power, but a slap on the face of every citizen who still believes in justice.
This is not about politics anymore, but about protecting the soul of a nation. If we remain quiet while government officials turn public offices into private attack dogs, then we are finished. Senator Natasha may have been the one dragged to court, but make no mistake; this fight is bigger than her. It is about the right to speak, the right to be heard, and the right to demand justice without being buried for it. Mr. Fagbemi must explain who authorised him to act on behalf of Nigerians. If the President never gave that instruction, then someone is impersonating the will of the state, and that in itself is a crime.
Let Nigerians not be deceived. If they succeed with Natasha, they will come for more of us. If this case is allowed to stand, then tomorrow any activist, journalist, or private citizen who dares to accuse a government official of wrongdoing can be dragged to court, not by the accused, but by the entire government claiming to act in our name. That is not law; that is dictatorship and tyranny dressed as due process.
Written by ILUO DePOET
Lawyer | Political Analyst | Poet | Pan-African
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