The election of Fred Agbedi of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the Sagbama/Ekeremor federal seat of Bayelsa State has been nullified on Friday by the National and State Houses of Assembly Election Tribunal sitting in Yenagoa.
The tribunal ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct new elections for the 20,000 constituents who were wrongfully shut out of the poll and to promptly revoke the certificate that had been awarded to Agbedi.
Due to violent incidents that tainted the election, Michael Olomu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) approached the tribunal and seeked to be declared the winner.
He said that the suspected orchestration of the violence by his rival had a substantial impact on the election’s fairness.
Olomu claimed that although the election was not held in all five wards, the results were tallied. Wards 3 and 4 in Ofoni, Sagbama, Ward 5 in Ebedebiri, Ward 11 in Ofoni, Sagbama, and Ward 12 in Ekeremo were also affected.
In response to the ruling, Agbedi declared himself ready to run in the special election.