The ruling of the National Assembly and State House of Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal in Bayelsa State, which had invalidated the election of Fred Agbedi, the member representing the Sagbama/Ekeremor Federal Constituency, was overturned by the Court of Appeal, Abuja, on Saturday.
Judge Muhammad Shuaibu led a panel of three judges that upheld Agbedi’s election as the People’s Democratic Party’s nominee for the National Assembly in February 2023.
The panel, which also included Justices Habeeb Abiru and Abdul-Azeez Waziri, rejected the appeal that Michael Olomu, the All Progressives Congress candidate, had submitted, citing it as unworthy.
The panel deliberated upon cross-appeals presented by Agbedi and Olomu, respectively, in response to the tribunal’s decision on September 7 regarding the APC candidate’s petition (designated EPT/BY/HR/01/2023) contesting the PDP candidate’s election.
In addition to declaring the legislator’s election null and void, the tribunal ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to revoke his certificate of return and hold make-up elections in 17 polling places across wards 10, 11, and 12 of Ekeremor LGA, six polling places in ward 11 of Sagbama LGA, and all polling places in ward 5.
The tribunal proceeded to rule that violence during the polls had disenfranchised 26,471 registered voters in the impacted polling units and wards across the two local government areas.
But in the lead decision read by Justice Abiru, the appellate court dismissed the APC candidate’s appeal as being without merit.
The PDP candidate’s election was affirmed because the tribunal, the court of first instance, should have decided the matter based on the quantity of Permanent Voter Cards obtained rather than the total number of voters registered in the federal constituency.
Consequently, the PDP candidate was sent back to the House of Representatives and the court denied the petitioner’s appeal.
Recall that Agbedi received a certificate of return from INEC after it was declared the winner of the election. Agbedi received 21,430 votes, while Olomu received 8,899 votes.
Agbedi responded by saying that the ruling further supported both his election victory and the mandate that the people of Sagbama/Ekeremor gave him to serve them in the National Assembly.
“The verdict of the Court of Appeal today has given further legitimacy to my victory in the election. I’m grateful to my people in the entire Sagbama/Ekeremor Federal Constituency for reposing confidence in me and renewing my mandate. I’m motivated to render more service.
“I urge my opponent to join hands with us in our effort to bring development to our federal constituency because we will achieve much more by working together, irrespective of party affiliation”, he said.