A Professor of Soil Science, University of Calabar, Prof. Peter Ogban, has been jailed by a High Court in Akwa-Ibom State for election fraud.
Justice Augustine Odokwo sentenced the convict to three years imprisonment and equally fined him N100,000.
Prof. Ogban had served as Returning Officer in the 2019 general elections in Akwa Ibom North-West senatorial district.
He was charged for manipulating results in two local government areas – Oruk Anam and Etim Ekpo.
The convict admitted before the court that the results in the two councils were altered to give the All Progressives Congress (APC) an undue advantage over the Peoples Democratic Party.
Senator Godswill Akpabio was the APC’s flagbearer in the election while Senator Chris Ekpenyong was the PDP candidate.
Akpabio, who was the incumbent, was seeking re-election.
He eventually lost to Ekpenyong, who is a former Deputy Governor of Akwa Ibom.
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The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) dragged Ogban to court.
Before the court passed its sentence, the convict had pleaded with the judge to temper justice with mercy.
However, Justice Odokwo insisted that the law must take its course, saying that the case was a novel one and as such there was nothing else he could do but to jail the convict.