Court Jails Nigerian Professor For Three Years Over False Election Results

Uyo, Akwa Ibom State – A State High Court in Uyo on Wednesday sentenced a Nigerian professor, Ignatius Uduk, to three years in prison for perjury and publishing false election results.

Uduk, a professor of Human Kinetics at the University of Uyo, was prosecuted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for announcing and publishing falsified results during the 2019 general elections in Essien Udim State Constituency, where he served as the returning officer. In addition to the prison sentence, the court imposed a fine of N100,000 on him.

His conviction comes four years after another academic, Professor Peter Ogban, was similarly jailed for three years for manipulating election results in favor of a candidate.

In 2019, Uduk falsely declared election results in Essien Udim, contributing to what INEC described as electoral malpractice.

His conviction underscores INEC’s ongoing crackdown on election fraud and strengthens calls for electoral integrity in Nigeria.

Similarly, in 2021, Professor Ogban, a former lecturer at the University of Calabar, was convicted for falsifying election results in the Akwa Ibom North-West Senatorial District to favor Godswill Akpabio, now Nigeria’s Senate President.

Ogban served his sentence, though Akpabio has distanced himself from the professor’s actions.

Both cases were prosecuted under the tenure of Mike Igini, the former INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Akwa Ibom, who led legal efforts against election malpractice before retiring in 2022.

Professor Uduk was first arraigned in December 2020 after a warrant was issued for his arrest the previous month due to his repeated failure to appear in court for trial.

He pleaded not guilty to the three charges brought against him by Nigeria’s electoral commission.

However, the case faced multiple delays due to a change in his defense counsel and a dramatic moment when he collapsed in the dock during cross-examination.

At one point, Uduk accused the judge of bias and requested his recusal.

The judge granted the request and returned the case file to the state’s chief judge, who reassigned the matter to the same judge for continuation.

The judgment, initially scheduled for January 29, was postponed to Wednesday, February 5, after Uduk and his lawyer failed to appear in court, citing health concerns.

In response, Justice Bassey Nkanang revoked Uduk’s bail and issued a fresh arrest warrant at the request of the prosecution.

Dressed in a brown cassock, Uduk was later brought into the courtroom in a wheelchair, just before the prosecution and defense lawyers announced their appearances.

Delivering the verdict, Justice Nkanang ruled that the prosecution, led by Clement Onwuewunor, had proven beyond reasonable doubt that Uduk knowingly published false election results while serving as a collation and returning officer.

The judge cited Section 123(4) of the 2010 Electoral Act (as amended), which states that publishing false election results is punishable by up to 36 months in prison.

Additionally, in the third charge of perjury, the judge referred to Section 118 of the Criminal Code Law of Akwa Ibom State, which defines perjury as giving false testimony in a judicial proceeding.

While the court acquitted Uduk of the charge related to announcing false election results, he was found guilty of publishing false results and committing perjury.

Justice Nkanang sentenced him to three years in prison for each charge, with the sentences to run concurrently.