The Akwa Ibom State High Court 2 sitting in Ikot Ekpene, has sentenced Professor Peter Ogban to 36 months of correctional service for electoral fraud during the 2019 election.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had taken Ogban to court on a two-count charge of fraudulently tampering with the election results in favour of the All Progressives Congress (APC) party during the 2019 General Election in Akwa Ibom North-West Senatorial District.
Godswill Akpabio, the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, was the APC candidate in the election. He was seeking a return to the Senate after he defected from the PDP.
Ogban, who was the Collation/Returning Officer during the National Assembly elections, was accused of manipulating and falsifying the scores of election results in Oruk Anam and Etim Ekpo local government areas in favour of the All Progressives Congress (APC) party.
Akpabio lost the election to the PDP’s candidate, Chris Ekpenyong, a former deputy governor in Akwa Ibom State.
Apart from the imprisonment, Ogban was also ordered to pay a fine of N100,000 for count 2 and 1 respectively by the Presiding Judge, Justice Augustine Odokwo.
The accused had earlier pleaded for mercy on the premise that he has dependents including a 90-year-old mother. He also said that he was a respectable member of his community and a very valuable and sought after lecturer in the Department of Soil Science, both in the Universities of Uyo and Calabar.
He said: “If I lose my source of income, it means all of my dependents I have mentioned will suffer, especially the condition of my aged mother.
“This is an eye-opener for anyone who participates in local, state or national activities to do so with dexterity and not take anything for granted to avoid an innocent person being embarrassed.
“I plead that you grant me 100 per cent mercy and allow me to go and continue with my responsibilities”.
In the same vein, his counsel, Anthony Ekpe, prayed the court to pardon the accused, saying the act for which Ogban was found guilty had no effect on the said elections.
He argued that as a Professor of Soil Physics and Conservation, the accused was highly sought after in the academic world and should not be deprived of his freedom.
“It was just a blip in the entire election process and cannot be said to have been to the detriment of the party said to have suffered.
“It could just as well have been an oversight or a mistake.
“We plead with my Lord not to deprive the accused of his liberty and seek particularly for another form of punishment.
“We plead that the court temper justice with mercy,” he stated.
But upon the judgment of the court, Ekpe said the accused would file for an appeal.
Counsel to INEC, Clement Onwenwunor, applauded the court for the novel ruling on the electoral fraud case, saying, “the court’s judgment is commendable”.
