Professor Peter Ogban, a soil science professor at the University of Calabar, who was sentenced to three years in prison by a State High Court in Uyo for manipulating and announcing falsified results in the 2019 Akwa Ibom North-West Senatorial District election, which favoured Senator President Godswill Akpabio, had his appeal for clemency rejected by the Appeal Court sitting in Calabar, the capital of Cross River State.

On Wednesday, the appellate court agreed with the lower court, which had previously found Professor Ogban guilty of manipulating election results to favour the People’s Democratic Party in some Akwa Ibom local governments. The court decried the academic’s conduct for eroding the integrity and public trust in the electoral process in the country.

Professor Ogban, who served as the returning officer for the Akwa Ibom North-West senatorial district during the 2019 general elections, in which the current President of the Senate, Senator Godswil Akpabio, contested under the All Progressives Congress against his strongest opponent, Senator Christopher Ekpenyong of the Peoples Democratic Party, who eventually won the election.

Investigations by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) revealed that the professor altered the final results to inflate Akpabio’s vote count in two local governments, Oruk Anam and Etim Ekpo, at the expense of his main opponent, Senator Christopher Ekpenyong of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The investigation led by the then-resident Electoral Commissioner in Akwa Ibom State, Barrister Mike Igini, convicted the two academics who served as the returning officers in the state—Professors Ogban and Ignatius Uduk— for their roles in election result manipulation during the 2019 general election.

Following the investigation by the electoral commission, the professor was dragged to court in December 2020 after his arrest warrant had been issued after much delay on a two-count charge of fraudulently manipulating scores in Etim Ekpo and Oruk Anam collation centres and falsifying, publishing and announcing fake results in Etim Ekpo and Oruk Anam council areas during the state House of Assembly elections.

Appearing before the presiding judge of the High Court, Hon. Justice Augustine Odokwo, Professor Ogban appealed to the court for leniency in its judgement, claiming that he was not guilty of the charges levelled against him.

However, four years after his arraignment, Justice Augustine Odokwo stated that the prosecutor had presented a strong legal point against the defendant, thereby jailing him for three years for the offence.

In an attempt to reverse the judgement passed on him, the professor of soil science approached the appellate court to change the ruling of the lower court in February with an appeal for the mercy of the court, promising to be responsible going forward.

However, the appeals court dismissed his appeal because his actions in 2019 were misconduct that could undermine confidence in the country’s electoral system, noting that he deserved the punishment meted out to him.