“We Will Not Tolerate This Deliberate Delay Any Longer, Justice Must Speak Now” Says Warri Federal Constituency Ijaw Elders, As They Charge INEC To Implement, Announce Delineation Report -

By Esther David

OPEN LETTER TO INEC AND THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF NIGERIA

We Will Not Tolerate This Deliberate Delay Any Longer: Justice Must Speak Now

From: Ijaw Stakeholders of Warri Federal Constituency
Date: July 25, 2025

To:
The Chairman,
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC),
Zambezi Crescent, Maitama, Abuja

ENOUGH OF THIS DELAY — THE MAP MUST SPEAK TRUTH

With deep anger burning in our bones and truth on our tongues, we write to express the growing outrage of the Ijaw people of Warri Federal Constituency over the deliberate and unjustified delay in releasing the long-completed INEC Ward Delineation Report for Warri South-West and Warri North.

Let it be known to the world: We will not take this anymore.

INEC has conducted the community mapping. It held stakeholder meetings. It visited the terrain. It consulted the facts. It completed the technical work.

Yet, for reasons best described as tribally induced blackmail from the Itsekiri oligarchy, INEC continues to sit on the report, pandering to a minority group that has weaponized colonial myths, political connections and media manipulation to halt a legitimate democratic exercise.

THE IJAWS ARE NOT GUESTS — THE ITSEKIRIS ARE

We will now state what the records show, with no apologies.

Ijaws are the aboriginal occupants of Warri Riverine territories including Gbaramatu, Ogbe-Ijoh, Isaba, Egbema, Diebiri and beyond, long before the first Olu was crowned.

The Itsekiris, led by Ginuwa, were migrants, a disgraced Benin prince expelled from his homeland and sheltered by Ijaw hosts in the 15th century.

“Ginuwa, the son of the Oba of Benin, migrated with his followers down the Benin River and was hosted by indigenous Ijaw communities who permitted them to settle in Ode-Itsekiri.”
— Chief J.S. Ayomike, “Benin and Warri: Meeting Points in History”, 1982

Pacheco Pereira, a Portuguese explorer, in his 1506 journal “Esmeraldo de Situ Orbis”, wrote clearly:

“Gasper, son of John the Negro, dwelt in Escravos.” a clear reference to Ijaw occupation before Itsekiri formation.

So how can those who arrived later now turn around and claim to be landlords?

WE FOUGHT FOR THIS DEMOCRACY — DO NOT MAKE US REGRET OUR PATIENCE

We, the Ijaws, have chosen law over violence, ballots over bullets and due process over disruption. For years, we’ve allowed peace to prevail while others rewrite history on paper.

But we now ask:

For how long will INEC deny the Ijaw people proper ward representation in our own lands?

For how long will minority Itsekiri elites hold an entire process hostage, simply because they fear the day when population will finally override propaganda?

WAR IS BREWED BY INJUSTICE, NOT RESISTANCE

We warn INEC: This delay is no longer administrative, it is political, ethnic and dangerous.

Let it be recorded that:

Ijaws are the numerical majority in Warri South-West and large parts of Warri North.

Ijaws own more geographical area, more oil-bearing communities and more physical infrastructure than the Itsekiris in the said regions.

The Ijaws have fewer wards today not because we are fewer people but because the Itsekiri ruling class connived with past military and civilian regimes to maintain artificial political advantage.