The National/States Houses of Assembly Election Tribunal, convened in Yenagoa, has nullified the election of Mr. Fred Agbedi, a candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the Sagbama/Ekeremor Federal Constituency in Bayelsa.
The tribunal directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to promptly retract the certificate previously issued to him and to conduct a fresh election in specific polling units within the constituency.
Furthermore, it instructed INEC to arrange a new election for the 20,000 voters who were unlawfully excluded from the initial election.
Mr. Michael Olomu, representing the All Progressive Congress (APC), had approached the tribunal seeking to be declared the rightful winner. He argued that due to incidents of violence that disrupted the electoral process, he should be declared as such.
Olomu alleged that the violence, purportedly orchestrated by his opponent, significantly impacted the integrity of the election. He further contended that voting did not occur in five wards, yet results were tabulated. These wards included Ward 5 (Ebedebiri), Ward 11 (Ofoni, Sagbama), Ward 12 (Ekeremo), as well as Wards 3 and 4 in Ofoni, Sagbama.
In response, Agbedi expressed his readiness to participate in the supplementary election.
