The High Court sitting in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, has sentenced Professor Ignatius Uduk of the University of Uyo to three years in prison for electoral offenses committed during the 2019 general elections.
Professor Uduk, a lecturer in Human Kinetics, served as the Collation/Returning Officer for the Essien Udim State Constituency election in March 2019.
He was tried on a three-count charge that included announcing false election results, publishing fake results, and perjury.
Delivering the judgment, Justice Bassey Nkanang acquitted Uduk on the charge of announcing false results but found him guilty on the other two counts.
The court sentenced him to three years imprisonment on each count, with the sentences to run concurrently.
The Independent National Electoral Commission led by Mike Igini as the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Akwa Ibom, had prosecuted Uduk on charges of abandonment of duty, publishing and announcing fake election results, and lying under oath.
Uduk’s trial suffered multiple delays, largely due to adjournments requested by the defense, which eventually led to a change in the presiding judge.
His case followed that of another UNIUYO professor, Peter Ogban, who was similarly prosecuted by INEC and sentenced to three years in prison for electoral malpractice.
Justice Nkanang’s ruling brings an end to the five-year legal battle waged by INEC to combat electoral fraud in the 2019 general elections in Akwa Ibom State.
