Unical Professor Jailed For Election Fraud

iexclusive News Nigeria reports that Akwa Ibom State High Court 2 sitting in Ikot Ekpene, has found Professor Peter Ogban guilty of the case of electoral fraud levelled against him by the INEC.

INEC had taken Professor Ogban to court on a two-count charge of fraudulently tampering with the election results in favour of the All Progressives Congress (APC) party during the 2019 General Election in Akwa Ibom North-West Senatorial District.

Ogban, who acted as the Collation/Returning Officer during the National Assembly elections, was standing trial for allegedly manipulating and falsifying the scores of election results in Oruk Anam and Etim Ekpo local government areas in favour of the All Progressives Congress (APC) party.

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’s candidate, Chris Ekpenyong, a former deputy governor in Akwa Ibom State, defeated Mr Akpabio in the election which was gripped by pockets of violence.

In his ruling, the Presiding Judge, Justice Augustine Odokwo, sentenced the accused to 36 months of correctional service and told to pay a fine of N100,000 for count 2 and 1 respectively, after the accused Professor had pleaded for leniency.

The accused had pleaded for mercy on the premise that he has dependents including a 90-year-old mother to take care of, adding that he was a respectable member of his community and a very valuable and sought after lecturer in the Department of Soil Science, both in the Universities of Uyo and Calabar.

The Professor said: “If I lose my source of income, it means all of my dependents I have mentioned will suffer, especially the condition of my aged mother.