Akwa Ibom State High Court has sentence the Returning Officer who assist All Progressive Congress, APC, to perpetrate electoral fraud in the 2019 General Election in Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District to three years imprisonment.
The Returning Officer, a Professor of Soil Science at the universities of Uyo (UNIUYO) and Calabar (UNICAL), Professor Peter Ogban was found guilty of electoral malpractice.
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.
Ogban, who was the Collation/Returning Officer during the National Assembly poll, was prosecuted for falsifying the scores of the election results in Oruk Anam and Etim Ekpo local government areas.
The presiding judge, Justice Augustine Odokwo, sentenced the accused to 36 months of correctional service and told him to pay N100,000 as fine for counts two and one, after the accused had pleaded for leniency.
Ogban had pleaded for mercy on the premise that he has dependents, including a 90-year-old mother to take care of, adding that he was a respectable member of his community.
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“If I lose my source of income, it means all of the 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 carefulness, to avoid an innocent person being embarrassed.
“I should be pardoned for the inability to do this. This is why I am here today. I plead that you grant me 100 per cent mercy and allow me to go and continue with my responsibilities.”
The defendant’s lawyer, Anthony Ekpe, had prayed the court to pardon the accused, saying the act for which Ogban was found guilty had no effect on the election.
Also, counsel to INEC, Mr. Clement Onwenwunor, applauded the court for its verdict.
Akwa Ibom State Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, Mr. Mike Igin said the judgment was the beginning of a new era in the country’s democracy.
