In what will bring about diverse reactions from Nigerians, a high court in Akwa Ibom state has sentenced a professor to jail.
The convict, Peter Ogban, is a professor of soil science at the University of Calabar.
He was arrested for manipulating election results to favour the All Progressives Congress (APC) when he was the returning officer in the senatorial election in Akwa Ibom north-west in 2019.
The professor was prosecuted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The court found Ogban guilty of altering the results of the election to favour the APC against the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Source: UGC
On count one, the presiding judge, Augustine Odoko ordered him to pay a fine of N100,000 while on count two he was sentenced to three years imprisonment without an option of a fine.
The verdict has quickly elicited reactions from social media users with many people happy at the sentence.
@yamusanjire wrote:
“At least professor Peter Ogban will have 3 years of researching about prison soil. I hope to see the day that election manipulators will face the full wrath of the law in this country. 1 down.”
@Greatrufus1 also said:
“These Nigerian professors who should uphold standards often help illiterates to rig election results. Many of them are still undergoing trials in various Courts and they must be jailed.”
@Iheanyi_Anunobi added:
“Worthless professor that can’t uphold his professorship. I believe he must have manipulated the result for an illiterate, a dropout, a tout or a certificate-less person like Buhari.”
Recall Legit.ng had reported that a university professor was on Tuesday, November 17, arraigned by the INEC for allegedly manipulating the scores of two political parties.
Professor Ogban was arraigned before a state high court in Ikot Ekpene Division on two counts of manipulation and falsification of results.
The professor served as a collation officer for the Akwa Ibom North-West National Assembly election during the 2019 general elections in the state.
Sourc: legitNG
