[News] Court jails professor for manipulating 2019 Akwa Ibom North-West senatorial election results in favour of APC

Justice Augustine Odokwo of a High court sitting in Akwa Ibom state on Thursday March 25 sentenced Peter Ogban, a professor of soil science at the University of Calabar, to three years in prison after he was found guilty of manipulating election results.

Ogban was the returning officer in the senatorial election in Akwa Ibom north-west in 2019. He was prosecuted 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 the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

In a previous court session, 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).

The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, was the APC candidate in the election and was seeking a return to the Senate, after he defected from the PDP.  The PDP candidate, in the election was Chris Ekpenyong, a former deputy governor of the state.

The university lecturer, before his sentencing, pleaded for mercy from the presiding judge.