The Court of Appeal sitting in Calabar, on Wednesday, upheld the conviction of Peter Ogban, a professor jailed for rigging a senatorial election for Godswill Akpabio.
Akpabio, a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), is the president of the Nigerian Senate.
The rigging happened in an election he lost before he contested again in 2023, won the election, and was elected the Senate president.
Ogban, a professor of Soil Science at the University of Calabar and a returning officer in the 2019 general elections in Akwa Ibom North-West District, was jailed for three years by a State High Court in Uyo for announcing fake election results in two local government areas – Oruk Anam and Etim Ekpo – in Akpabio’s favour.
A lawyer who participated in the case at the appellate court told journalists shortly after the judgement that the Court of Appeal, apart from affirming Ogban’s conviction and three-year jail term, frowned at his role as a university professor in the fraudulent manipulation of election results.
Ogban had told the trial court in Uyo how the election results were falsified to give the APC an unfair advantage over its main rival, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
For instance, some 5,000 fake votes were added to the APC’s score in Oruk Anam in the election.
Akpabio was seeking a return to the Senate after he defected from the PDP.
The PDP candidate, Chris Ekpenyong, a former deputy governor of Akwa Ibom State, defeated Mr Akpabio in the election, which was nearly marred by pockets of violence.
INEC prosecuted Mr Agban in the landmark case.
Before his sentencing, the professor pleaded for mercy from the judge, Augustine Odokwo, who described the case as novel.
He, however, told the lecturer that there was not much he could do other than let the law take its course.
He said the prosecution was able to prove its case against Mr Ogban, beyond any reasonable doubt.
