A’Court Affirms Conviction of Professor Who Rigged Election for Akpabio
The Court of Appeal in Calabar has upheld the conviction of Professor Peter Ogban, who was found guilty of manipulating the 2019 senatorial election in Akwa Ibom North-West to favour former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio.
Ogban, a professor of soil science at the University of Calabar, served as the returning officer in the election and was sentenced to three years in prison by an Akwa Ibom State High Court in March 2021. He was also fined ₦100,000 for falsifying election results to benefit the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate against the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The appellate court, in its ruling, affirmed the trial court’s judgment, stating that the evidence overwhelmingly showed Ogban altered results from polling units to inflate Akpabio’s votes.
During his trial, Ogban claimed he merely collated results provided by local government officers and denied any wrongdoing. However, the court found that his actions directly compromised the integrity of the electoral process.
This development comes amid increasing scrutiny of electoral misconduct in Nigeria. In a related case, another academic, Professor Ignatius Uduk of the University of Uyo, was also sentenced to three years in prison in February 2025 for falsifying results in the 2019 Akwa Ibom House of Assembly election in the same district.
