A coalition of 56 prominent Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), has called for the immediate resignation of Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
The follows the Court of Appeal’s recent ruling upholding of the conviction of Professor Peter Ogban for electoral fraud.
The organizations include the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and the Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA) among 54 others.
The appellate court, sitting in Calabar, confirmed Ogban’s three-year prison sentence after finding him guilty of falsifying election results during the 2019 Akwa Ibom North-West Senatorial election.
The fraud was reportedly aimed at securing Akpabio’s victory as the candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Akpabio has denied any direct involvement in the fraud but the conviction of Ogban, who declared him the winner, has cast a shadow over the integrity of his election.
To this end, the CSOs called on Akpabio to step aside to restore public confidence in the democratic process.
