Akwa Ibom State High Court 2 sitting in Ikot Ekpene has found Prof. Peter Ogban guilty of electoral fraud, subsequently sentencing him to three years in prison.
Ogban was the collation/returning officer during the National Assembly elections for Akwa Ibom North-West Senatorial District in 2019.
He was accused by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of tampering with election results in Oruk Anam and Etim Ekpo local government areas in favour of the All Progressives Congress (APC) which had former governor Godswill Akpabio as senatorial candidate.
Akpabio who is now the minister of Niger Delta Affairs lost the election to Chris Ekpenyong of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
In his ruling, Justice Augustine Odokwo also ordered the professor of soil science to pay a fine of N100,000 for count two and one respectively.
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 lecturer in the Department of Soil Science, both in the Universities of Uyo and Calabar.
Following the ruling, the defendant’s counsel Anthony Ekpe said his client would file for appeal.
