Nigerian Professor Who Rigged Election for Akpabio Walks Free Despite Conviction

By: Chioma Madonna Mdukwu

Professor Peter Ogban, the university don convicted for manipulating the 2019 senatorial election in favour of Nigeria’s current Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, is not serving the three-year prison sentence handed to him by a court. Premium Times Newspaper, which investigated the case, reports that Ogban has been walking free, even after the Court of Appeal upheld his conviction and sentence.

Ogban, a professor of soil science at the University of Calabar, served as returning officer during the controversial Akwa Ibom North-West senatorial election. In March 2021, a State High Court in Uyo found him guilty of falsifying results in Oruk Anam and Etim Ekpo local government areas to boost Akpabio’s chances at the polls.

Although he was taken to Ikot Ekpene prison to begin serving his sentence, Ogban was granted bail just four months later by Justice Pius Idiong. His lawyer, Kanu Agabi (SAN), argued that the professor’s medical condition—tuberculosis and high blood pressure—justified temporary release, even as INEC, the prosecuting body, strongly opposed it.

When the Court of Appeal reaffirmed his conviction on April 30, 2025, Ogban was not present. A legal expert told Premium Times that prison officials had a duty to ensure his presence and immediate re-incarceration following the judgment.

However, Nigeria Correctional Service officials say they cannot confirm if Ogban is in custody. His legal team is now taking the matter to the Supreme Court, hoping to overturn the appellate ruling.

In a related case, another professor, Ignatius Uduk, was also convicted for election fraud favoring an APC candidate and sentenced to three years. Like Ogban, he, too, was granted bail, spotlighting a troubling trend of convicted election offenders eluding full justice in Nigeria.