By SAM JONES
YENAGOA (Sundiata Post) – The Election Petitions Tribunal in Bayelsa State has sacked the member representing Sagbama/Ekeremor Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Chief Fred Agbedi of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The tribunal also ordered INEC to immediately withdraw the certificate of return issued to him earlier and conduct fresh elections in some polling units
in the constituency.
It asked INEC to organize a fresh election for about 26,000 voters who the election court said were unlawfully excluded from the initial election.
Michael Bless Olomu, who was the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), challenged Chief Agbedi’s victory in the contending that he was the rightful winner of the election due to violence that marred the poll.
Olomu alleged that the violence was orchestrated by the opposition and significantly impacted on the election’s integrity.
He said elections did not hold in five wards of Ward 5 (Ebedebiri) and Wards 3, 4 and 11 (Ofoni) in Sagbama Local Government Area as well as Ward 12 in Ekeremor Local Government Area, yet the results were collated.
In his response to the judgment, Chief Agbedi said he was ready to take part in the supplementary election.