In Abuja, Senator Godswill Akpabio denied any association with Prof. Peter Ogban, the INEC Electoral Officer convicted of rigging an election in favor of the APC. Akpabio described claims that Ogban worked for him as unfounded, malicious, and aimed at damaging his reputation. A statement from his Media Assistant reaffirmed that such allegations are baseless and intended to tarnish Akpabio’s image.
As his Chief Press Secretary, I previously issued a statement responding to the Peoples Democratic Party’s claim that Ogban was working to rig the election in Akpabio’s favor. To clarify, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that Prof. Peter Ogban, a Soil Science professor at the University of Calabar, was sentenced to three years in prison by an Akwa Ibom High Court for electoral fraud. He was found guilty of manipulating the results of the February 23, 2019, Akwa Ibom North-West Senatorial District election.
Akpabio, who was the APC candidate seeking re-election, was actually a victim of this electoral fraud. The PDP’s continued campaign to tarnish Akpabio’s reputation involved twisting the judgment’s context and falsely claiming the election was rigged in his favor. These claims are baseless. In fact, Akpabio has been vindicated as the true perpetrators of the fraud are finally being brought to justice, confirming that justice is prevailing.
Akpabio filed a challenge with the National Assembly Election Tribunal against the election results. In that election, he secured approximately 61,329 votes in his home Local Government Area (LGA), Essien Udim. However, Ogban, who served as the Senatorial District Returning Officer, did not announce these votes in accordance with the Electoral Act. Instead, Ogban, along with the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Uyo, canceled votes and scores from various polling units and collation centers across LGAs in Akwa Ibom North-West, including Akpabio’s home LGA.
The National Assembly Election Tribunal and the Court of Appeal ultimately invalidated the election and ordered a rerun in Essien Udim LGA. Ogban’s conviction confirmed that the election was massively rigged. If Akpabio had been a beneficiary of the rigging, he would not have challenged the results up to the Court of Appeal, which upheld his appeal and mandated a rerun.
Importantly, Ogban never declared Akpabio the winner; instead, he canceled lawful votes and declared his opponent the winner through manipulated results. It is misleading and mischievous to claim that Ogban, who arbitrarily canceled legitimate votes and announced a PDP candidate as the winner, was working in Akpabio’s favor.
It is clear that certain individuals are still haunted by the ghost of the last election, which they heavily manipulated to arrive at a predetermined outcome. This fact was reaffirmed by the Court of Appeal in Calabar. We remain confident that, in due course, all those involved in the conspiracy will be brought to justice, whether through the judiciary or divine intervention, as Ogban has stated.
Akpabio has since moved forward and is now serving as Senate President. He will not be sidetracked or distracted by the unfounded and malicious reports propagated by mischief-makers and hatchet men.