Fred Agbedi: Bringing honour, rich political history to Bayelsa guber race
With the release of the election timetable for the next governorship election in Bayelsa State by the Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC), which fixed political party primary elections for August this year, the search has begun for the next governor of the state.
An array of governorship hopefuls is already joining the fray and one man who brings honour and a rich political history to the contest for the candidature of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) is Frederick Yeitiemone Agbedi, member representing Sagbama/ Ekeremor Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives.
Humble with a charming smile, innocuous laughter and a demure appearance, Agbedi is one man who has been through thick and thin in his efforts to make his mark in the political arena and been at the forefront of struggles for Bayelsa’s political emancipation and infrastructural development.
Agbedi was born 58 years ago at Aghoro, a riverine community on the Atlantic coast in Ekeremor Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, a few kilometers away from Agge, the proposed terminal of the long talked about SagbamaEkeremor-agge Road.
He had his primary education at State School, Aghoro where he obtained his First School Leaving Certificate and proceeded to Oproza Grammar School, Patani in Delta State for his West African School Certificate.
Not done, he attended the College of Education, Warri, Delta State where he bagged the Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) majoring in English and History and later the University of Port Harcourt for a BA (Education) English before going on to obtain a Masters In Public Administration from the University of Abuja.
As a teacher, Agbedi had excelled, but he soon turned to the mainstream civil service where he functioned as a confidential secretary to the Secretary, Local Teaching Service Committee and also Pay Officer in the 1980s.
Within this same period, he was also a member of Ad Hoc
Committee on Verification of Primary/post Primary School Teachers and Confidential Secretary to the Military Panel on Screening and Verification of Staff of Burutu Local Government Area, Delta State.
Leaving the civil service, the young Agbedi ventured into private business, but it was in the political that he made his mark; from being Secretary, National Republican Convention (NRC), Ekeremor Local Government Area from 1992 to 1993, he became one of the youngest members of the National Assembly when he represented Ekeremor Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives from 1992 to 1993.
As a member of the House of Representatives, his sterling qualities were soon noticed and he served as a member, Public Accounts Committee as well as the Sports and Youth Development Committee.
As the political horizon changed, he joined the United Nigeria Congress Party (UNCP) and was a member of the party’s screening committee for House of Assembly aspirants in Bayelsa State.
From there, recognising the need to aspire higher to meet the needs of his people, he contested the UNCP Bayelsa West Senatorial District primary election in 1998 where he ended as first runner-up.
He later joined the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) at the ward level; Ekeremor Ward 11, served as Special Assistant to the Chairman, 2001 PDP Computerised Membership Registration Committee, Bayelsa State.
Agbedi was also a member and secretary of the PDP National Committee on Supervising, Monitoring and Conduct of Congresses/convention 2001 in Abia State and contested the Bayelsa West Senatorial primary election in 2002.
Among the various positions he held in the party are member, Transitional Committee on Handover of Power in Government of Bayelsa State, 2007 and later state Chairman, PDP, a position he occupied from 2005 until February 2008.
He was twice Director-general of Governor Henry Seriake Dickson’s campaigns in 2012 and 2015 when the governor was elected for his second term in office and was also a Senior Legislative Aide to the President of the Senate among several appointments.
In 2015, he contested the and won the Sagbama/ekeremor Federal Constituency seat in the House of Representatives where he served member of several House committees and was reelected this year for a second tenure due to his sterling contributions on the floor of the House.
Agbedi is Chairman House Committee on Gas Resources, a position that he has used to impact positively on his constituents, especially as his community, Aghoro is an oil producing with several oil wells.
His impressive scorecard cuts across several areas of the economy and political spheres including empowerment, education, infrastructural development, quality and effective representation as well as accountability and transparency.
Perhaps, it is the acute need for development in his area that has suffered years of devastation from crude oil exploitation and exploration coupled with the marshy terrain that has been seen as a nightmare to several governments development efforts that fueled his quest for political power to enable him add verve to development efforts.
Agbedi has contributed to efforts at development of infrastructure in his constituency in the past four years; for instance he has seen the construction of the Amazor-agge-palm BushOgbointu-orobiri-amatu I communities concrete road and culverts.
There is also the construction of a concrete road with drainage from Aghoro II Civic Centre to the GRA both in Ekeremor Local Government Area as well as maintenance of Toru EbeniOkumbiri road off YenagoaMbiama and Amassoma roads.
He has helped in the provision of solar street lights across several communities in the constituency, provided electricity generating sets and renovated some existing structures that required facelift.
Worthy of note is the provision of return tickets to several Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) students stranded abroad and made N100,000 monthly contribution to the Bayelsa Educational Development Trust Fund since May 2018.
Others humanitarian accomplishments worthy of mention are payment of education support fees, maintenance and accommodation to an innumerable number of students within and outside his constituency and elsewhere in the country.
As a result of his selfless contributions to human and infrastructural development, he has been given several chieftaincy titles including the Izon Ebidoowei by the Pere and Chiefs Council of Kumbowei Kingdom for his contributions towards uplifting the Ijaw nation and its people.
He has also received numerous awards of recognitions including Face of Bayelsa in the National Assembly by Bayelsa Media Award and he was recently conferred with the Legislator of the Year Award by the Ijaw National Merit Award.
These contributions are reasons why he is both adored and eulogised by his people and constituents alike who see in him a leader that carries the pains and burden of the people on his shoulders and ever ready to render assistance and service whenever he is called upon.
A loving husband and caring father, Agbedi likes playing table tennis and volleyball, enjoys reading and traveling while not neglecting swimming, which comes to him naturally as an Ijaw man from a riverine terrain.
Such are the natural endowments of the man who is seeking to take the mantle of leadership from incumbent Governor Dickson to continue the upward trajectory of development in Bayelsa State, The Glory of All Lands.