A State High Court in Uyo, Akwa Ibom, has sentenced a university professor to three years in prison for perjury and publishing false election results during the 2019 general elections.
Professor Uduk of the University of Uyo was found guilty of fabricating and announcing fake results for the Essien Udim State Constituency election, where he served as the returning officer.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) prosecuted him, and the court also imposed a ₦100,000 fine in addition to the prison term.
This marks the second high-profile conviction of a Nigerian professor for electoral fraud. In 2021, Professor Peter Ogban was similarly jailed for three years for falsifying results in the Akwa Ibom North-West Senatorial election to benefit then-APC candidate Godswill Akpabio, now the Senate President. Akpabio has denied involvement in the fraud.
Both cases were initiated by former INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Akwa Ibom, Mike Igini, who secured their convictions before retiring in 2022.
Uduk was first arraigned in December 2020 after an arrest warrant was issued the previous month for repeatedly failing to appear in court. He pleaded not guilty to the charges, but his trial faced multiple delays due to legal changes and health-related incidents, including collapsing in the dock.
At one point, he accused the presiding judge of bias, leading to a reassignment of the case, which was later returned to the same judge.
The final judgment was initially set for January 29 but was postponed to February 5 after Uduk and his lawyer failed to appear, citing health reasons. In response, Justice Bassey Nkanang revoked his bail and issued a fresh arrest warrant. Uduk was later brought to court in a wheelchair.
Delivering the verdict, Justice Nkanang ruled that the prosecution, led by Clement Onwuewunor, had proven beyond doubt that Uduk knowingly published false election results. Citing the 2010 Electoral Act and Akwa Ibom’s Criminal Code, the judge sentenced him to three years for each of the two charges, to run concurrently.
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