The Court of Appeal sitting in Calabar, Cross River has upheld the conviction and three-year prison sentence of Professor Peter Ogban for manipulating and announcing falsified results in the 2019 Akwa Ibom North-West Senatorial District election, which favoured Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
The appellate court, in its ruling on Wednesday, affirmed the earlier judgment of the High Court in Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State, which found Ogban guilty of electoral fraud.
The court strongly condemned his actions, noting the gravity of his misconduct as a university professor entrusted with the integrity of the electoral process.
Professor Ogban, a professor of Soil Physics at the University of Calabar, served as the returning officer in the said election.
He was prosecuted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) after investigations revealed he altered election results to favour the former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio.
Ogban was convicted of manipulating results to boost Akpabio’s votes against his opponent, Christopher Ekpenyong of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Akpabio has since denied any involvement in the electoral fraud.
It will be recalled that the then Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of INEC in Akwa Ibom State, Barrister Mike Igini, spearheaded the investigation and prosecution of two university professors—Peter Ogban and Ignatius Uduk—over their roles in manipulating and announcing fraudulent election results. The conviction of Professor Ogban by the High Court was one of the landmark outcomes of those efforts, now affirmed by the Court of Appeal.
Similarly, in February, A State High Court in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, sentenced Uduk to three years in prison for perjury and publishing false election results during the 2019 general elections.
Professor Uduk of the University of Uyo was found guilty of announcing and publishing fabricated results in the Essien Udim State Constituency election, where he served as the returning officer.
In addition to the prison term, the court imposed a N100,000 fine.
The case marked the second high-profile conviction of a Nigerian professor for electoral fraud.
Uduk was first arraigned in December 2020 after a warrant was issued for his arrest the previous month due to his repeated failure to appear in court for the start of his trial.
The professor pleaded not guilty to the three charges brought against him by Nigeria’s election commission.
However, the case faced multiple delays for various reasons, including a change of defence lawyer and an incident where the defendant collapsed in the dock during cross-examination.
At one point, Uduk accused the presiding judge of bias and requested his recusal—a request that was granted.
The state’s chief judge then reassigned the case, but ironically, it was returned to the same judge for continuation.
