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A professor at the University of Uyo, Prof. Ignatius Uduk, has been sentenced to three years imprisonment by the Akwa Ibom State High Court in Uyo for publishing false election results and committing perjury related to the 2019 state House of Assembly election in Akwa Ibom North-West.

Uduk was found guilty of charges brought by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for his actions as the returning officer during the election in Essien Udim State Constituency. The charges included perjury and the publication of false results during the 2019 general elections.

Justice Bassey Nkanang, the presiding judge, delivered the ruling, stating, “In respect of Count 1, the defendant is hereby discharged and acquitted. In respect of Count 2, the defendant is hereby found guilty of the offence of publication of false results contrary to and punishable under Section 123(4) of the Electoral Act 2010 as amended. For Count 3, the defendant is hereby found guilty of the offence of perjury under Section 119(1) of the Criminal Code Law of Akwa Ibom State.”

Uduk was sentenced to three years imprisonment on each of the two counts, to be served concurrently.

Counsel for INEC, Clement Onwuenwunor (SAN), emphasised the importance of the ruling as a deterrent to future offenders, stating, “This case relates to the 2019 general elections and not 2023. It was initiated by former INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mike Igini, with the support of the then Chairman against those that committed infractions against the system. It has taken us five years to prosecute Prof. Uduk for offences he committed against the state. The judgement is going to serve as a deterrent to others that may be engaged tomorrow by INEC to help ensure credibility in the electoral process, but who turn around to sabotage it for selfish reasons.”

Onwuenwunor described Uduk’s conduct as a serious disservice to democracy, adding, “He refused to attend court on several occasions and procured a forged medical report from Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, saying he was sick. It took the Commissioner of Police Lagos State Command to verify the authenticity of that medical report. It turned out from the police report that he was never anywhere near Lagos on those days he claimed, and the doctor he claimed issued the medical report never existed in the payroll of the university’s teaching hospital.

On the specifics of the offence, Onwuenwunor explained, “On 10 March 2019, he had earlier submitted a handwritten note detailing how he was chased away from the collation centre and that he was forced to announce the result. Less than 24 hours later, he generated another result and came up with the official final result, declaring the winner for the election. He returned a winner for an election that there was no collation in any of the levels, no collation from the Polling Unit, no collation from Ward Level, and none at the Local Government Area level before it got to him as Returning Officer.”

Uduk’s conviction comes four years after Prof. Peter Ogban, a professor of soil science at the University of Calabar, was also jailed for similar offences related to election manipulation.

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