New revelations have shattered the false narrative surrounding the 2019 Akwa Ibom North-West Senatorial District election, as court documents confirm that Professor Peter Ogban, who was jailed for electoral fraud, manipulated the results in favour of Senate President Godswill Akpabio—not his opponent, Chris Ekpenyong, as previously claimed.
Ata Ikiddeh, a former aide to Akpabio, recently took to social media to resurrect debunked claims that the election was rigged against his former boss. In a Facebook post dated February 15, 2025, Ikiddeh alleged that Prof. Ogban colluded with the then-Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of Akwa Ibom State, Mike Igini, to alter results for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Chris Ekpenyong.
“It was alleged that Professor Ogban connived with the REC to falsify results in favour of Chris Ekpenyong against Senator Godswill Akpabio,” Ikiddeh wrote, further claiming that Ogban transported collated results from the Ikot Ekpene senatorial district to Uyo, where he allegedly tampered with them.
However, a fact-check by Premium Times has dismantled these assertions, revealing that court records tell a completely different story. In March 2021, Prof. Ogban was convicted and sentenced to three years in prison for election rigging—but in favour of Akpabio, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), not against him.
During the trial, damning evidence showed that Ogban manipulated votes in Oruk Anam and Etim Ekpo local government areas, reducing PDP’s vote count by 5,000 while inflating APC’s by the same margin.
Two Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials, John Enoidem and Itemobong Ekaidem, testified that the results announced by Ogban did not align with actual figures recorded at the constituency level.
Despite the court’s ruling, Akpabio and his allies have continued to push the false narrative that he was the victim of electoral malpractice. In January 2023, during a campaign rally in Oruk Anam, Akpabio reiterated this claim, stating, “You people voted overwhelmingly for me, but some people colluded to rob me of my victory. The professor who was used to rob me of that victory in 2019 is now in jail.”
This claim was demonstrably false, as Ogban was jailed for rigging the election to benefit Akpabio, not against him.
The resurgence of these falsehoods comes on the heels of another election fraud conviction. On February 5, 2025, Professor Ignatius Uduk was sentenced for rigging the 2019 Essien Udim State Constituency election in favour of an APC candidate, Nse Ntuen—an Akpabio ally.
Ikiddeh’s Facebook post has gained traction among Akpabio’s loyalists, with supporters like Udori Archi and Blessing Akpabio praising him for “killing the wrong narrative.” However, Premium Times maintains that judicial evidence remains unchanged: the election fraud was orchestrated to benefit Akpabio, not his opponent.
As misinformation continues to spread, the court’s verdict stands as a firm reminder of the true events of the 2019 senatorial election—regardless of political spin.
PIONEER NEWS 