Hon. Fred Agbedi
Hon. Fred Agbedi, representing Sagbama/Ekeremor Federal Constituency in Bayelsa state, has emerged as the new Minority Leader of the 10th House of Representatives.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, officially announced Hon. Agbedi who is a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, after a mild drama on Thursday, June 11 at the National Assembly as opposition members of the House of Reps insisted on the declaration of Fred Agbedi as the Minority Leader of the House.
Insisting that the day’s plenary would not go ahead unless Agbedi is announced as the Minority Leader, the lawmakers, who gathered at the lobby, were identified as the G-60 opposition caucus in the House of Representatives.
The group, led by Hon. Ikenga Imo-Ugochinyere, threw their weight behind Hon Agbedi as Minority Leader and Abdusammad Dasuki, representing Kebbe-Tambuwal Federal Constituency of Sokoto State, as Deputy Minority Leader.
Fred Agbedi’s emergence as the House Minority leader was made possible following the adoption of the motion moved by Hon. Babajimi Benson, which stipulated that only members with “cognate legislative experience” in Order Seven, Rule 15 of the Standing Orders of the House, were eligible to contest for principal positions.
Hon. Babajimi Benson had, at resumption of plenary on Wednesday, June 20, moved a motion titled: “Need for a Precise Definition of Order Seven, Rule 15 of the House of Representatives.”
According to the rule, “cognate legislative experience,” refers to members who have completed at least one full four-year term, as contained in Order Seven, Rule 15 of the Standing Orders of the House.
In his motion, Benson noted that Order Seven, Rule 15 of the Standing Orders of the House of Representatives states that “only members with cognate legislative experience as Members of the House of Representatives” shall be eligible for appointment as Principal Officers of the House.
This development subsequently truncated the minority leadership quest of Hon. Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere who had reportedly secured the endorsement of 61 out of the 81 opposition member for the position of minority leader following the resignation of Hon. Kingsley Chinda.
Ugochinyere, who was first elected to the House in 2023 on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party before later defecting to the Action Peoples Party, is currently in his third year as a member of the House of Representatives and serving his first term in the National Assembly and he graciously withdrew his name from the race, in a letter to the House Speaker, Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abass, citing the exact provision of Order Seven, Rule 15 of the Standing Orders of the House, as his reason for stepping down and out of the Minority leadership race.
This withdrawal then opened the way of eligibility for old timers like Hon. Fred Agbedi lawmakers to be put forward, and opposition lawmakers, suspicious that the controversy which surrounded Ugochinyere’s candidacy may serve as an excuse to create further delay in the appointment of a minority leader, stormed plenary on Thursday, affirming their choice of Hon. Agbedi in the light of Ugochinyere’s non-eligibility and demanding that the House leadership address the minority leadership position, before the commencement of plenary.
Hon. Fred Agbedi, a four-term member of the House of Representatives (having first been elected into the Green Chamber in 1992, when the Ekeremor/Sagbama Constituency was still under Rivers State and long before Bayelsa State was officially created on October 1, 1996), is widely recognized as an unwavering loyalist and one of the closest confidantes of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
He now replaces former Minority leader, Hon. Kingsley Ogundu Chinda, who resigned from the position to emerge as the Rivers State APC governorship candidate for the 2027 elections.
Also today, the House during Thursday’s plenary session, presided over by Speaker of the House, Tajudeen Abbas, passed the State Police Bill, with 289 lawmakers voting in support of the proposal, thus paving the way for the decentralisation of Nigeria’s policing system and bringing the country a step closer to the establishment of state-controlled police forces .
The decision followed growing concerns over the rising cases of killings, kidnappings, banditry and other security challenges across the country. The House had earlier scheduled Thursday’s sitting for voting on the contentious State Police Bill as part of ongoing constitutional reform efforts.