*As Court Of Appeal Upholds Ogban’s Conviction
SENATE President, Godswill Akpabio, has distanced himself from the jailed Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Electoral Officer, Professor Peter Ogban, insisting he never worked for him during the 2019 elections.
Akpabio emphasised that the electoral official’s claims were unfounded, spurious, malicious and intended to tarnish his image, adding that he was a victim of fraudulent electoral manipulation in Akwa Ibom Northwest on February 23, 2019.
Ogban, a professor of Soil Science at the University of Calabar, was earlier convicted, sentenced to three years in prison and fined N100,000 by an Akwa Ibom State High Court in March 2021 for altering the results of the 2019 senatorial election to favour the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Ogban, who served as the returning officer in the Akwa Ibom Northwest senatorial election, was found guilty of announcing false election results in Oruk Anam and Etim Ekpo local councils in favour of the then APC senatorial candidate, Akpabio .
The Court of Appeal, Calabar Division, recently affirmed the conviction of Ogban.
This follows a similar case where Ignatius Uduk, a professor at the University of Uyo, was jailed three years for falsification results of the 2019 House of Assembly election in the same district.
However, Akpabio, in a statement by his Special Assistant on Media and Communication, Anietie Ekong, said: “For the umpteenth time, just like I did when Senator Godswill Akpabio was the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, the claim that the jailed INEC Electoral Officer, Prof. Peter Ogban, was convicted for rigging election in favour of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is unfounded, spurious, malicious and intended to tarnish the image of the President of the Senate.
“Contrarily, Akpabio was a victim of the fraudulent manipulation of the election of Akwa Ibom Northwest Senatorial District held on February 23, 2019.
“He is vindicated that the perpetrators of the electoral fraud are being brought to justice, at last the chickens are coming home to roost.
“In due time, we believe all the conspirators will be brought to justice as Ogban, either through the judiciary or divine intervention he said.
“Akpabio had since moved on to become the Senate President and would not be distracted by baseless and unfounded reports by hatchet men and mischief makers.”
