WARD DELINEATION: Group Sends Open Letter To INEC, Demands Immediate Implementation Of Delineation Report -

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‎By Uche Alvin

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE INDEPENDENT NATIONAL ELECTORAL COMMISSION (INEC)
‎From Majority to Marginalized: How Political Manipulation Turned Ijaws to Minority in Warri Federal Constituency.
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‎Dear Chairman and Members of the Commission,
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‎We, the undersigned Ijaw stakeholders of Warri Federal Constituency, write to express our deep concern over the continued delay in the release of the final fieldwork report of the INEC led Ward Delineation Exercise. This delay not only obstructs the lawful implementation of a Supreme Court ruling but also prolongs the political disenfranchisement and marginalization of the Ijaw people. A majority population treated as a minority in their own homeland.
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‎A Legacy of Betrayal and Manipulation
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‎The political suppression of the Ijaw people in Warri Federal Constituency is not a recent development. It is a decades-long saga of institutional betrayal, calculated manipulation and administrative injustice that has denied us our rightful voice. Even within a constitutional democracy, our experience painfully demonstrates that power can be usurped not through ballots, but through bureaucratic deceit.
‎Before 1997, what is today known as Warri South West Local Government Area (LGA) was an overwhelmingly Ijaw territory, consisting of ten electoral wards reflecting the population distribution and settlement patterns of its indigenous inhabitants. This demographic reality was clearly established in the 1991 National Population Commission (NPC) census and reaffirmed by the 2023 NPC household survey, both confirming that the Ijaws constitute over 70% of the LGA’s population.
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‎The 1997 Restructuring: Disenfranchising the Majority
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‎On March 17, 1997, just two days after local government elections, a sudden and unconstitutional restructuring of the council was executed. In a move widely perceived as politically motivated, three (3) Itsekiri-dominated wards from Warri North LGA were transferred into Warri South LGA. The council was renamed Warri South West LGA, and its headquarters was relocated from the Ijaw town of Ogbe-Ijoh to the Itsekiri town of Ogidigben.
‎Although public resistance eventually forced the reversal of the headquarters relocation, the ward reconfiguration remained. The ten Ijaw wards were arbitrarily reduced to four (4), while the three (3) imported Itsekiri wards were mysteriously inflated to six (6). This deliberate distortion flipped political control, enabling a group representing just 22% of the population to dominate the LGA, leaving the Ijaw majority disenfranchised in their own ancestral land.
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‎State Complicity and the Architecture of Minority Rule
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‎This imposition of minority control over a majority population reflects a systemic injustice akin to apartheid-era tactics. Emboldened by state complicity, the Itsekiri political elite have used this structure to suppress Ijaw representation, fuel ethnic division and entrench their dominance, all under the guise of democracy.
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‎The Warri Crisis: The Human Cost of Injustice
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‎The political manipulation of 1997 laid the foundation for the Warri Crisis (1997–2003), a violent and traumatic period marked by bloodshed, mass displacement and ethnic unrest. The consequences of that restructuring were not merely political; they tore communities apart, cost lives and deepened historical wounds.
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‎A Supreme Court Ruling: A Path to Redemption
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‎After years of peaceful struggle and legal challenge, justice was finally served in the landmark Supreme Court judgment delivered on December 2, 2022 (Appeal No. SC/413/2016: Hon. George U. Timinimi & Ors v. INEC). In its ruling, the court recognized the longstanding injustice and mandated INEC to take corrective action.
‎In compliance, INEC commendably conducted a ward delineation exercise and produced a comprehensive proposed fieldwork report. However, the final version of this report, which is essential for legal and electoral reconfiguration is yet to be published.
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‎Demographic Realities Must Guide Delineation
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‎It is imperative that INEC’s final implementation aligns with both its fieldwork findings and the legal judgment of the Supreme Court. The proposed delineation, based on factual demographics, is as follows:
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‎Warri South West LGA
‎• Ijaw – 14 wards
‎• Itsekiri – 5 wards
‎Warri South LGA
‎• Ijaw – 3 wards
‎• Itsekiri – 8 wards
‎• Urhobo – 9 wards
‎Warri North LGA
‎• Ijaw – 10 wards
‎• Itsekiri – 8 wards
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‎This proposed ward structure accurately reflects the Ijaw people’s position as the demographic majority within the Warri Federal Constituency. Any failure to implement this configuration would not only undermine the Supreme Court’s judgment but also perpetuate decades of disenfranchisement and erode public confidence in INEC’s independence.
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‎The Urgent Need for Action
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‎The ongoing delay in releasing and adopting the final delineation report continues to deny the Ijaw people their rightful representation. INEC must resist political pressures and act decisively in the interest of equity, legality and national unity.
‎The facts are clear. The law is settled. The injustice is undeniable. And the voices of the Ijaw people grow louder with each passing day.
‎The international community, civil society, and all democratic institutions must not stand by while a demographic majority is governed by an engineered minority. This is a defining moment, an opportunity to restore dignity, democracy and justice in Warri South West, Warri South and Warri North.
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‎Our Demands
‎To ensure full and lawful compliance with the Supreme Court’s ruling, we respectfully call on INEC to:
‎1. Review and formally adopt the fieldwork report as the definitive framework for ward and unit structures in Warri Federal Constituency.
‎2. Release the Final Fieldwork Report without further delay
‎3. Commence fresh voter registration within the newly delineated wards and polling units across Warri North, Warri South, and Warri South West LGAs.
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‎Conclusion
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‎With the 2027 general elections approaching, it is imperative that all electoral activities in the Warri Federal Constituency be conducted under a ward and unit structure that reflects legal and demographic realities.
‎Any deviation from the Supreme Court-mandated delineation would render the elections illegal, unconstitutional and null and void. It would amount to an extension of historical injustice and a rejection of judicial authority.
‎INEC must now act with urgency, transparency and unwavering commitment to the rule of law and democratic integrity.
‎Let this moment mark the beginning of true reconciliation, not built on political expediency but anchored in justice and truth.
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‎Sincerely,
‎Keme O. Keme
‎President
‎Olotu Oweipa
‎Secretary
‎Ijaw Stakeholders of Warri Federal Constituency.