Despite the conviction, Akpabio and his allies have continued to claim that the election was rigged against him
The Court of Appeal in Calabar has upheld the conviction of Professor Peter Ogban, a former lecturer at the University of Calabar, for manipulating election results to favor Godswill Akpabio during the 2019 Akwa Ibom North-West senatorial election.
Ogban was initially sentenced to three years imprisonment by the Akwa Ibom State High Court in 2021 after being found guilty of falsifying election results in Oruk Anam and Etim Ekpo Local Government Areas.
The appellate court dismissed Ogban’s appeal, affirming the trial court’s decision that the prosecution had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt. During the trial, it was revealed that Ogban altered vote counts, reducing the People’s Democratic Party’s (PDP) votes by 5,000 and increasing the All Progressives Congress’s (APC) votes by the same margin in Oruk Anam.
Despite the conviction, Akpabio and his allies have continued to claim that the election was rigged against him, a narrative contradicted by court records and testimonies.