In Calabar, Cross River State, the Court of Appeal has affirmed Professor Peter Ogban’s conviction and three-year jail sentence for manipulating the 2019 Akwa Ibom North-West Senatorial election results in favor of Senator Godswill Akpabio.
In its Wednesday order, the appellate court upheld the previous decision of the High Court in Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State, which had convicted Ogban of election malpractice.
Given his academic reputation and the confidence the public had placed in him during the election process, the court took a strong stand against Ogban’s misbehavior, emphasizing how serious his acts were.
The returning officer for the senate election was Professor Ogban, a University of Calabar professor of soil physics. After discovering that he had falsified statistics to support Godswill Akpabio, the then-Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, he was charged by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
In order to boost Akpabio’s votes against his rival, Christopher Ekpenyong of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ogban was found guilty of fabricating results.
Akpabio has denied any responsibility for the electoral irregularities.
Former INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner in Akwa Ibom, Barrister Mike Igini, oversaw the investigation and legal action that resulted in Ogban’s conviction.
Because of his efforts, two academics—Ogban and Professor Ignatius Uduk—were prosecuted for their participation in announcing manipulated election results. The Court of Appeal’s decision now firmly establishes one of those historic convictions.
Relatedly, a Uyo State High Court in February condemned University of Uyo professor Ignatius Uduk to three years in prison for perjury and proclaiming phony results in the 2019 general elections. The returning officer for the vote in the Essien Udim State Constituency was Uduk.
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₦100,000 was fined by the court in addition to the jail term.
Uduk’s case became the second significant instance of a Nigerian academic being found guilty of electoral malfeasance. A warrant for his arrest was issued in November 2020 after he repeatedly missed court appearances, and he was first charged in December 2020.
Even though he entered a not guilty plea to the three counts INEC had brought against him, the trial was beset by a number of setbacks, including a dramatic moment when Uduk passed out in court while being cross-examined and changes in defense counsel.
Uduk demanded that the presiding judge withdraw himself at one point during the trial after accusing him of bias. The request was approved.
The case was reallocated by the state’s chief judge, but it was then sent back to the original judge for further proceedings.
