Stakeholders in Bayelsa West have insisted on supporting a candidate from Sagbama in the senatorial by-election.

This, they said, is in line with the power sharing agreement between Sagbama and Ekeremor, the two councils which make up the senatorial district.

The seat became vacant after Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo became deputy governor.

The clarification followed the decision of a former Deputy Governor, Peremobowei Ebebi, to contest for the seat.

Stakeholders expressed discomfort with Ebebi’s decision because ‘his entry violates an unwritten agreement on power rotation between Sagbama and Ekeremor local government area’.

It was learnt that the positions of Senator and member of the House of Representatives in Bayelsa West are shared between the two councils.

While Ebebi, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), is from Ekeremor, former Governor Seriake Dickson, a leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is from Sagbama.

The stakeholders are insisting that no one from Ekeremor can vie for the position in adherence to the existing agreement on power rotation since the incumbent House of Representatives member, Fred Agbedi, is from Ekeremor.

Political leaders of Sagbama and Ekeremor, in a joint statement, said Sagbama should complete Ewhrudjakpo’s tenure for an Ekeremor person to start a fresh tenure to honour the power sharing agreement.

The opposition to an Ekeremor candidate cuts across party lines. Chairman of APC Mobilisation Group Ebide Brown said stakeholders in the council would resist any unconscionable assault on the zoning arrangement. He said it was unjust and unfair for an Ekeremor person to contest for the seat with Fred Agbedi the House of Representatives.

He said: “No candidate can undermine the tenets of the zoning arrangement and expect us to work for him. We won’t work for any candidate from Ekeremor because it is wrong. The APC candidate in the senatorial by-election should be from Sagbama since Agbedi is in the House of Representatives now.”