News
Judge orders Nigerian professor’s arrest over electoral fraud
By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
A High Court in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, on Wednesday, ordered the arrest of a Nigerian professor, accused of election fraud, for being absent during judgment.
Ignatius Uduk, a professor of Human Kinetics at the University of Uyo, is being prosecuted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on charges of perjury and announcing and publishing false results during the 2019 general elections in Essien Udim State Constituency, where he served as the returning officer.
The judge, Bassey Nkanang, adjourned the case for an hour after the defendant and his counsel failed to announce their appearance.
The prosecution counsel, Clement Onwuenweunor and an INEC official had announced their appearances in court.
When the hearing resumed, Justice Nkanang proceeded after a lawyer the judge asked to call the defence counsel informed the court that the lawyer said he was not feeling fine and had asked him to hold a brief for him if the judgment is taken today.
The lawyer, Ndifreke Inyangette, said the defence counsel communicated with him via a text message.
In his submission, the prosecution counsel prayed to the court to revoke the defendant’s bail and issue a fresh bench warrant for the professor.
Mr Inyangette said the court could deliver judgment. If convicted, sentencing can be taken at a later date.
He further informed the court that the defendant was ill, of which the judge admitted that the court was aware and had received medical reports.
Justice Nkanang, in his ruling, granted the relief of the prosecution counsel: he revoked the earlier bail granted to the defendant. He issued a fresh bench warrant before adjourning the case to 5 February for judgment.
Backstory
The professor was first arraigned in December 2020 after an arrest warrant was issued against him the previous month for repeated failures to appear for the commencement of the trial.
The professor had pleaded not guilty to the three charges slammed on him by the Nigeria electoral body.
The case has witnessed a series of delays because of several factors, including a change of defence counsel and the defendant’s collapsing in the dock during cross-examination.
According to him, such financial mishandling not only disrupts critical public services and projects but also results in major losses to the nation’s purse—resources that could have been channelled into crucial services and developmental efforts, as laid out in Section 14(2)(b) of the Constitution.
Speaker Abbas, thereafter setup a Special Committee to be chaired by Rep. Chinedu Martins to immediately launch a probe into the “Utilisation of take-off grants, bailout funds, and interventions allocated to MDAs, government institutions, and GOEs from 2015 to present.”
The FCT Minister, Mr. Nyesom Wike, expressed satisfaction with the progress on the Abuja light rail project, reaffirming its May 29 delivery as sacrosanct.
He made these assurances after inspecting the ongoing construction of access roads to the train stations on Wednesday, from Metro Train Station in the Central Area to Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
Reassuring journalists accompanying him, the minister reiterated that President Bola Tinubu would commission the rail project on May 29 to mark his second year in office.
The visited stations were Wupa station near Idu and Bassanjiwa station near the airport.
“This is part of our routine inspection of ongoing projects to see the contractors’ progress,” Wike explained.
“We are working day and night to fulfill our promise to President Tinubu and FCT residents. By May, Mr. President will ride on the Metro line.”
Gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen are currently invading some communities in the Ukum Local Government Area of Benue State.
According to sources, the herdsmen armed with AK-47 rifles stormed the community around 04:15pm on Thursday.
“Our lives are in danger this evening, armed Fulani herdsmen, about 600 in numbers have taken over our communities this evening,” a resident told SaharaReporters.
“They’re currently moving around towns in Ukum Local Government Area of Benue state. No security personnel at all, Governor Alia didn’t send security, they said operation will start soon once they (herders) have observed the place.”
The insecurity situation in Benue has been alarming in recent weeks with attacks from gunmen suspected to be herdsmen.
The media had reported that suspected herdsmen again unleashed terror in Benue State, attacking three communities in Otukpo Local Government Area (LGA) on Wednesday, just a day after 11 people were killed in a deadly raid on Otobi community.
The latest victims of the escalating violence were Emichi, Odudaje, and Okpamaju, communities that had previously suffered an attack in February, which left five people dead.
However, the renewed attack has created fear and mass displacement among residents, with women and children fleeing to safety.
Local sources say the death toll from the fresh attack remains unclear, but several casualties are feared.
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