Professor Ignatius Uduk, A University of Uyo (UNIUYO) lecturer of Human Kinetics, has been sentenced to three years in prison for electoral fraud committed during the 2019 general elections.
Uduk was found guilty in a High Court in Uyo, Akwa Ibom, on two counts of electoral misconduct.
Serving as the Collation/Returning Officer for the Essien Udim State Constituency in the March 2019 elections, Uduk was charged with three offenses: announcing false election results, publishing false results, and perjury. While Justice Bassey Nkanang acquitted him of the first charge, he was convicted on the latter two, receiving a three-year prison sentence for each, to run concurrently.
The case was prosecuted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), under the leadership of Akwa Ibom’s Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mike Igini. Uduk was accused of abandoning his duties, fabricating election results, and lying under oath.
His conviction follows a similar case involving another UNIUYO professor, Peter Ogban, who was also sentenced to three years in prison for electoral malpractice. Uduk’s trial faced several delays due to multiple adjournments and a change in the presiding judge, prolonging the legal proceedings.
