The Court of Appeal, apart from affirming Mr Ogban’s conviction and the three-year jail term, frowned at his role as a university professor in the fraudulent manipulation of election results, a lawyer who participated in the case at the appellate court told journalists, Wednesday afternoon.
The Court of Appeal in Calabar, on Wednesday, upheld the conviction of Peter Ogban, a professor jailed in 2021 for rigging a senatorial election for Godswill Akpabio, a senator from Akwa Ibom State.
Mr Akpabio, a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), is the president of the Nigerian Senate. The rigging happened in an election he lost before he contested again in 2023, won the election, and was elected the Senate president.
Mr Ogban, a professor of soil science at the University of Calabar and a returning officer in the 2019 general elections in Akwa Ibom North-West District, was jailed for three years by a State High Court in Uyo for announcing fake election results in two local government areas – Oruk Anam and Etim Ekpo – in Mr Akpabio’s favour.
A lawyer who participated in the case at the appellate court told PREMIUM TIMES Wednesday afternoon that the Court of Appeal, apart from affirming Mr Ogban’s conviction and three-year jail term, frowned at his role as a university professor in the fraudulent manipulation of election results.
The case for hearing was a fundamental human rights enforcement suit she instituted earlier in the month to block EFCC and other law enforcement agencies from arresting her following her being declared wanted last month.
During Wednesday’s hearing, the judge, Inyang Ekwo, ordered EFCC to release Ms Achimugu within 24 hours.
