Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, has denied allegations that Prof. Peter Ogban, the jailed INEC Electoral Officer, was convicted for rigging election in favour of All Progressives Congress (APC).
This was contained in a statement released through his Chief Press Secretary, Anietie Ekong, on Saturday.
Akpabio was reacting to the claim by Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), that Ogban was working towards rigging the election in his favour.
Ogban, a professor of Soil Science at the University of Calabar was sentenced to three years imprisonment by an Akwa Ibom High Court for electoral fraud.
Akpabio who was APC’s candidate at the election seeking re-election to the Senate said in the statement that he was rather a victim of the fraudulent manipulation of the election.
“In their desperation in a continuing campaign of calumny against Akpabio, they twisted the context of the judgment and maliciously claimed that the election was rigged in his favour.
“Nothing could be further from the truth, the facts of the case put a lie to this assertion.
“Contrarily, Akpabio was a victim of the fraudulent manipulation of the election of Akwa Ibom northwest Senatorial District held on Feb. 23, 2019.
“He is vindicated that the perpetrators of the electoral fraud are being brought to justice, at last, the chickens are coming home to roost,” he said.
