A Professor of Human Kinetics at the University of Uyo (UNIUYO), Ignatius Uduk, has been sentenced to three years in prison for electoral fraud during the 2019 general elections.
A High Court in Uyo, Akwa Ibom, found Uduk guilty of two charges related to electoral misconduct.
Uduk, who served as the Collation/Returning Officer for the Essien Udim State Constituency during the March 2019 elections, faced a three-count charge, including announcing false election results, publishing false results, and perjury.
Justice Bassey Nkanang, the trial judge, acquitted Uduk on the first charge but convicted him on the second and third charges. Consequently, Uduk was sentenced to three years in prison for each of the two counts, with the sentences to run concurrently.
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The prosecution was brought by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), led by Mike Igini, Akwa Ibom’s Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), who had accused Uduk of abandoning his duties, publishing and announcing false election results, and lying under oath.
This ruling follows a similar conviction of another UNIUYO professor, Peter Ogban, who was sentenced to three years for a similar offense. Uduk’s trial had been delayed due to multiple adjournments, and the change of the presiding judge further prolonged the case.
