On April 30th, the Appeal Court in Calabar upheld the conviction of Professor Peter Ogban for falsifying and announcing incorrect election results in the 2019 North West Senatorial District election, benefiting Senator Godswill Akpabio.
Ogban, who teaches soil science at the University of Calabar and served as a returning officer during the 2019 elections in the Akwa Ibom North-West District, was sentenced to three years in prison by a State High Court in Uyo for reporting fraudulent results in the Oruk Anam and Etim Ekpo local government areas that favoured Akpabio.
The court confirmed the three-year sentence, expressing disapproval of Ogban’s conduct as a university professor in manipulating election outcomes.
In a significant ruling issued on Wednesday, the appellate court upheld the previous verdict by the Akwa Ibom High Court in Ikot Ekpene, which found Ogban guilty of tampering with and announcing falsified election results.
This conviction followed an extensive investigation led by the then Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of INEC in Akwa Ibom State, Barrister Mike Igini.
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