- Safiu Kehinde
The lawmaker representing Ekeremo/Sagbama Federal Constituency, Fred Agbedi, has emerged as the new Minority Leader of the House of Representatives.
Agbedi was on Thursday announced as the new minority leader by the green chamber’s Speaker, Tajudeen Abass.
Abass, at the chamber’s plenary session, disclosed that the Bayelsa lawmaker was anonymously nominated by the minority lawmakers in the house through consensus.
“By virtue of Order 7 Rule 7 of the Standing Order 12th Edition of the House of Representatives, the minority members of the House of Representatives hereby anonymously nominate the following members by consensus to fill the vacant positions of the minority in the parliament Number one is Minority Leader, Rt. Hon. Fred Agbedi.” The House of Representatives speaker announced.
According to reports, Agbedi became an active politician after joining National Republican Convention (NRC) in 1992, and soon became Secretary of the party in his local council of Ekeremor.
NRC was proscribed after the military take-over of government in 1993.
In 1998, the new minority leader joined the newly registered United Nigeria Congress Party (UNCP) in preparation for the return to democratic rule in 1999.
He was a member of UNCP screening committee for the Bayelsa state assembly.
He ran for UNCP nomination to run for the Bayelsa-West Senatorial District but lose at his party’s primary emerging first runner-up in 1998.
He later joined the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), serving in different capacities including Special Assistant to the Chairman, PDP Computerized Membership Registration Committee in Bayelsa State in 2001.
Agbedi was first elected to the National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria during the 3rd Assembly in the Third Republic in 1992 representing Ekeremor Federal Constituency then of Rivers State.
He held membership assignment on house committees on Public Accounts and Sports and Youth Development in the 3rd Assembly.
Agbedi was the youngest member in the 3rd assembly. In 1993, the third republic was aborted after General Ibrahim Babangida annulled the disputed June 12, 1993 presidential election.
He returned to his home state after the dissolution of the assembly and continued his grass root mobilisation under different community services retaining and gaining more of his grass root popularity until democracy returned in 1999.
Agbedi started the race to return to the national assembly in 2014 after resigning from his position in the government of Governor Siriake Dickson as senior special adviser on political matters.
He contested in the PDP primary election for nomination to run for Sagbama/Ekeremor federal constituency seat in the national assembly scoring 100 votes beating Stella Dorgu backed by President Goodluck Jonathan.
He won in the general election in 2015.
In 2019, Agbedi ran for a return ticket to the national assembly and won to a third term in the house.
The Baylesa lawmaker would again secure the legislative seat as he emerged winner of the 2023 Election,