By Ken Chiwendu
The Court of Appeal in Calabar, on Wednesday, upheld the conviction of Peter Ogban, a professor of Soil Science jailed in 2021 for rigging a senatorial election for Godswill Akpabio, ( APC) Akwa Ibom State who doubles as the President of the Senate.
The incident happened in an election he lost before he contested and won in 2023, and became the Senate president.
Mr Ogban, an academic staff at the University of Calabar was a returning officer in the 2019 general elections in Akwa Ibom North-West District. He was jailed for three years by a State High Court in Uyo for announcing fake election results in favour of Akpabio in two local government areas – Oruk Anam and Etim Ekpo
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).
According to him,some 5,000 fake votes were added to the APC’s score in Oruk Anam in the election against the
PDP candidate, Chris Ekpenyong, a former deputy governor of Akwa Ibom State, who defeated Mr Akpabio in the election.
INEC prosecuted Mr Agban for falsifying results .
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