Akpabio Roars: INEC Official’s Jail Sentence Proves I Was Framed

Senate President Godswill Akpabio has refuted allegations that the convicted Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) official, Professor Peter Ogban, manipulated the 2019 election in his favour or for the benefit of the All Progressives Congress (APC).....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶

According to a statement released in Abuja by his Special Assistant on Media and Communication, Anietie Ekong, Akpabio described the reports as baseless, defamatory, and a deliberate attempt to damage his reputation.

Akpabio asserted that, contrary to claims by some political opponents, he was in fact a victim of electoral fraud during the Akwa Ibom North-West Senatorial District election held on February 23, 2019. He stated that Professor Ogban’s conviction validates this position and confirms that the election was heavily compromised.

The Senate President clarified that Ogban did not declare him the winner of the senatorial election. Instead, he allegedly cancelled valid votes cast in Akpabio’s favour and wrongfully declared his opponent the winner.

“For the avoidance of doubt,” the statement read, “just as I did while serving as Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, I must reiterate that the claim that Prof. Peter Ogban was convicted for rigging the election in favour of the APC or Senator Godswill Akpabio is completely false, malicious, and misleading.”

Referencing a report by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the statement noted that Professor Ogban, a soil science lecturer at the University of Calabar, was sentenced to three years in prison by an Akwa Ibom High Court for falsifying results in the senatorial election.

Akpabio emphasized that the distortion of the court’s ruling by opponents, particularly the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is part of a smear campaign aimed at misrepresenting the facts and discrediting him.