BREAKING: UNIUYO Professor, Ignatius Uduk Bags Three Years Jail Term Over 2019 Election Fraud

UNIUYO Professor, Ignatius Uduk has bagged three years jail term over 2019 election fraud.

 

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

 

The convict, who specializes in Human Kinetics at the University of Uyo, UNIUYO, was prosecuted by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, for falsifying election results during the 2019 general elections in Essien Udim State Constituency, where he served as the returning officer.

 

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His sentencing comes four years after another academic, Professor Peter Ogban, was jailed for a similar offence. Ogban, a former professor of Soil Science at the University of Calabar, served a three-year sentence for falsifying results in the 2019 Akwa Ibom North-West Senatorial District election.

 

That election saw the defeat of Godswill Akpabio, now the Senate President, by Christopher Ekpenyong of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

 

Mike Igini, a former INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, in Akwa Ibom, initiated both legal proceedings, securing Ogban’s conviction before retiring in 2022.

 

Uduk was first arraigned in December 2020 after repeatedly failing to appear in court, prompting the issuance of an arrest warrant. He pleaded not guilty to the three charges brought against him.

 

The trial experienced several delays due to changes in defense counsel, the defendant collapsing in court during cross-examination, and accusations of judicial bias, which led to a reassignment of the case before being returned to the original judge.

 

The judgment, initially scheduled for January 29, was postponed after Uduk and his lawyer failed to appear, citing health concerns. The judge revoked his bail and issued a fresh arrest warrant. He was later brought to court in a wheelchair.

 

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

 

Citing Section 123 (4) of the 2010 Electoral Act (as amended), which criminalizes the announcement of false election results, and Section 118 of the Akwa Ibom Criminal Code Law, which defines perjury, the court found Uduk guilty of counts two and three, publication of false election results and perjury, while acquitting him of count one, the announcement of false results.

 

He was sentenced to three years in prison for each count, with the sentences to run concurrently.