As varsity dons go to jail for electoral fraud

The Akwa Ibom office of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has made outstanding contributions to the growth of our democracy, being about the only one out of its 37 peers in the Federation to put two crooked professors in jail for electoral fraud.

The convicted professors are Peter Ogban, professor of Soil Science, who has completed his three-year sentence for manipulating the result of the Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District in favour of Senator Godswill Akpabio (All Progressives Congress, APC) in 2019 after the latter was defeated by Christopher Ekpenyong of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. Ironically, while the professor was being prosecuted, Akpabio had publicly disowned him.

On February 5, 2025, Justice Bassey Nkanang also jailed Ignatius Uduk, a professor of Human Kinetics at the University of Uyo, for announcing and publishing false results during the 2019 general elections in the Essien Udim State Constituency. During his trial, Uduk employed the usual tricks perfected by suspects in efforts to escape justice – refusal to appear in court, asking the judge to recuse himself over alleged bias, suddenly falling ill and being brought to trial in wheelchairs.

Despite all these, the long arm of the law still caught Uduk and brought him to book.

It is hardly surprising that the Akwa Ibom INEC was able to achieve these elite convictions. Mike Igini, a lawyer and notable, irrepressible patriot, was the Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, for Akwa Ibom who pursued these cases at the risk of his very life. ident of the Nigerian Senate.

We urge Igini not to be disheartened. He has set a standard worthy of emulation. We are convinced that the nation will still remember him when we are finally ready to move forward.

It is so unfortunate that the romantic experiment of involving officers of our ivory towers in a bid to give Nigeria an enviable democratic model has largely failed. Former Military President, General Ibrahim Babangida, had started this experiment during his Transition to Civil Rule Programme in the late 1980s, by appointing Professor Eme Awa as Chairman of the National Electoral Commission, NEC.

Following Eme Awa’s resignation, Babangida appointed Professor Humphrey Nwosu, who went on to give Nigeria the freest and fairest elections on June 12, 1993. Today, apart from Professor Nnenna Oti of Federal University of Technology, Owerri, FUTO, who refused to compromise as the Abia State Returning Officer in the 2023 general elections, most professors have betrayed the confidence reposed on the elite of the supposed ivory tower.

We call on our judicial officers to emulate the firmness and integrity of the Akwa Ibom judges and give justice to whom it is due.

Otherwise, our democracy will only produce crooked leaders.