Appeal Court Rules Against Professor Ogban in Akpabio Election Fraud Case

The conviction and three-year jail sentence of Professor Peter Ogban for manipulating the 2019 Akwa Ibom North-West Senatorial election results in favor of Senator Godswill Akpabio have been maintained by the Court of Appeal in Calabar, Cross River State.
The High Court in Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State, had already declared Ogban guilty of election misconduct. The appeal court upheld this decision in its verdict on Wednesday.
Because of Ogban’s academic reputation and the public’s confidence in him during the election process, the court took a strong stand against his misbehavior and emphasized how severe his acts were.

For the senatorial election, Professor Ogban, a professor of soil physics at the University of Calabar, was return officer. He was charged by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) after it was discovered that he had falsified official records to support Godswill Akpabio, who was then the minister of Niger Delta affairs.
For fabricating results to boost Akpabio’s support for his opponent, Christopher Ekpenyong of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ogban was found guilty.

Akpabio has refuted any role in the electoral irregularities.

In Akwa Ibom, Barrister Mike Igini, the former INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, oversaw the investigation and legal action that resulted in Ogban’s conviction.

Because of his efforts, Ogban and Professor Ignatius Uduk, two academics, were prosecuted for their participation in declaring manipulated election results. Now, the Court of Appeal’s decision upholds one of those historic convictions.

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Parallel to this, a Uyo State High Court in February condemned Professor Ignatius Uduk of the University of Uyo to three years in prison for perjury and announcing phony results in the 2019 general elections. For the Essien Udim State Constituency vote, Uduk was the returning officer.

Along with the jail term, the court also assessed a 100,000 naira fine.

The case of Uduk marked the second significant conviction for electoral misconduct of a professor from Nigeria. Following several missed court appearances, a warrant for his arrest was issued in November 2020, and he was first arraigned in December 2020.

The trial was beset by numerous delays, including a dramatic moment when Uduk fainted in court during cross-examination, and he entered a not guilty plea to the three counts of the INEC-brought allegation.

At one point during the trial, Uduk accused the presiding judge of being biased and asked him to step aside. We approved that request.

The state’s chief judge transferred the case, but it was later sent back to the original judge for further proceedings.