The Court of Appeal sitting in Calabar, Cross River State, has upheld the conviction and three-year prison sentence handed to Professor Peter Ogban, a soil physicist at the University of Calabar, for electoral fraud during the 2019 Akwa Ibom North-West senatorial election.
In its ruling delivered on Wednesday, the appellate court affirmed the earlier judgment of the Akwa Ibom State High Court in Ikot Ekpene, which found Ogban guilty of manipulating election results in favour of Godswill Akpabio, the then Minister of Niger Delta Affairs and now President of the Senate.
The court condemned Ogban’s actions as a grave betrayal of public trust with serious implications for the credibility of Nigeria’s electoral process.
Ogban, who served as the returning officer in the election, was found to have falsified the final vote tally by inflating Akpabio’s numbers and suppressing those of his main rival, Christopher Ekpenyong of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Despite the manipulation, Akpabio ultimately lost the contest to Ekpenyong.
The prosecution was the result of investigations by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), under then Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mike Igini. Ogban was prosecuted alongside another academic, Professor Ignatius Uduk of the University of Uyo, both accused of playing key roles in falsifying election results during the 2019 general elections.
Akpabio has consistently denied any involvement in the electoral fraud.
In a related case, the Akwa Ibom State High Court in Uyo, in February 2024, sentenced Professor Uduk to three years in prison for perjury and announcing false results during the 2019 Essien Udim State Constituency election. He was also fined ₦100,000.
Uduk’s trial, which began in December 2020, was marred by multiple delays — including his collapse during cross-examination and an unsuccessful attempt to disqualify the presiding judge over alleged bias. Though he lost the 2019 election, Akpabio returned to the Senate in 2023 and now serves as Senate President.
