The professor of soil science was a returning officer in the 2019 general elections in Akwa Ibom North-West senatorial district.
A High Court in
Akwa-Ibom State, on Thursday, sentenced a Nigerian professor, Peter Ogban, to
three years in prison, for election fraud.
The court, which
found Mr Ogban guilty of fraudulent manipulation of election results,
publishing and announcing of false results, also asked the professor to pay
N100,000 fine.
Mr Ogban, a
professor of soil science, University of Calabar, and a returning officer in
the 2019 general elections in Akwa Ibom North-West District, was charged for
manipulating the election results of two local government areas – Oruk Anam and
Etim Ekpo.
In a previous court
session, Mr Ogban had told the court how the results of the election were
falsified to give the All Progressives Congress (APC) an unfair advantage over
its main rival, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
For instance, some
5,000 fake votes were added to the APC’s score in Oruk Anam, in the election.
Godswill Akpabio,
the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, was the APC candidate in the election. He
was seeking a return to the Senate, after he defected from the PDP.
The PDP candidate,
Chris Ekpenyong, a former deputy governor in Akwa Ibom State, defeated Mr
Akpabio in the election, which was gripped by pockets of violence.
Mr Ogban was
prosecuted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the
landmark case.
The university
lecturer, before his sentencing, pleaded for mercy from the judge, Augustine
Odokwo.
Another professor also faces trial
for election fraud
Ignatius Uduk, a
professor of Human Kinetics in the Department of Physical and Health Education,
University of Uyo, has also been charged for election fraud in Akwa Ibom State.
He is accused of
unlawful generation of election results in favour of PDP in Essien Udim State
Constituency election in 2019 and lying under oath.
Mr Uduk was
remanded in custody in December after the court issued a warrant of arrest on
him.
This is the first
time INEC is prosecuting professors for electoral fraud.
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