Court Jails Nigerian Professor For Publishing, Announcing False Election Results In 2019

Peter Ogban, a professor of soil science at the University of Calabar has been sentenced to prison. He was sentenced to three years in prison by a High Court in Akwa Ibom state for fraudulent manipulation of election results. Ogban, who was the returning officer in the senatorial election in Akwa Ibom North-West in 2019, was also accused of publishing and announcing false results in two local government areas – Oruk Anam and Etim Ekpo. He was prosecuted at a State High Court in Ikot Ekpene by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The court found him guilty of altering results of the election to favour the All Progressives Congress (APC) against its main rival, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). In a previous court session, Ogban had told the court how results of the election were falsified to give the APC an unfair advantage over the PDP. Godswill Akpabio, the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, was the APC candidate in the election. He was seeking a return to the Senate after defecting from the PDP. The PDP candidate, Chris Ekpenyong, a former deputy governor in Akwa Ibom State, defeated Mr Akpabio in the election which was marred by pockets of violence.