The National and State Houses of Assembly Election Tribunal sitting in Yenagoa on Friday nullified the election of Fred Agbedi of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the Sagbama/Ekeremor federal constituency of Bayelsa State.
The tribunal directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately withdraw the certificate issued to Agbedi and conduct fresh elections for 20,000 voters in the constituency who were unlawfully excluded from the election.
Michael Olomu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) had approached the tribunal, asking to be declared the winner due to incidents of violence that marred the electoral process.
He alleged that the violence, allegedly orchestrated by his opponent, had a significant impact on the integrity of the election.
Olomu said that the election did not take place in five wards, but results were collated. The affected wards included Ward 5 in Ebedebiri, Ward 11 in Ofoni, Sagbama, and Ward 12 in Ekeremo, along with Wards 3 and 4 in Ofoni, Sagbama.
Reacting to the judgement, Agbedi expressed his readiness to take part in the supplementary election.
