The Court of Appeal sitting in Calabar has upheld the conviction and three-year prison sentence of Professor Peter Ogban, a soil science lecturer at the University of Calabar, for manipulating election results during the 2019 senatorial elections in Akwa Ibom State.
Professor Ogban served as the returning officer for the Akwa Ibom North-West Senatorial District during the 2019 general elections. He was found guilty of falsifying election results in Oruk Anam and Etim Ekpo Local Government Areas to favor the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Godswill Akpabio, over the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Chris Ekpenyong.
During the trial at the Akwa Ibom State High Court in Ikot Ekpene, evidence presented showed that Ogban altered the election results by reducing the PDP’s votes and increasing those of the APC. For instance, in Oruk Anam, 5,000 votes were subtracted from the PDP’s tally and added to the APC’s count. Similarly, in Etim Ekpo, the APC’s votes were inflated by 3,000, while the PDP’s were reduced by the same margin.
Justice Augustine Odokwo, who presided over the case, sentenced Ogban to 36 months imprisonment and imposed a fine of N100,000. Ogban’s appeal against this verdict was dismissed by the Court of Appeal, which affirmed the lower court’s decision.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which prosecuted the case, hailed the judgment as a significant step towards ensuring electoral integrity. The case is notable as one of the few instances where an electoral officer has been held accountable for manipulating election results in Nigeria.
