“RE: The Final Report Or Final Resistance — We Will Not Accept Political Slavery In Warri”__Says Delta Ijaw Stakeholders In An Open Letter To FG, INEC -

By Esther David

OPEN LETTER TO INEC, THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, AND THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY

RE: “The Final Report or Final Resistance — We Will Not Accept Political Slavery in Warri”

From: Ijaw Stakeholders of Warri Federal Constituency
Date: July 29, 2025

INTRODUCTION: A NATION’S FAILURE IS BREEDING A PEOPLE’S RAGE

We write with burning hearts and weary hands, not because we enjoy confrontation but because we have been forced into it. What we witness today is a democratic betrayal in slow motion. INEC, through deliberate silence and cowardice is fanning the embers of crisis in Warri.

We, the Ijaw people of Warri Federal Constituency, are staring at the edge of political extinction. You know the truth. You have seen the population data. You have walked the communities. You have obeyed the Supreme Court by initiating the delineation process and yet you now pause, not because of legal hindrance but because of tribal intimidation and fear of a media-manipulating minority.

How can a constitutionally empowered body become a hostage to the voice of a fabricated monarchy?
How can a Federal Commission ignore the pain of a people who chose courts over crisis, only to be mocked with silence?

Enough is enough. Our voice must be heard. Our rights must be respected. Our land must be represented.

This is not just about delineation, it is about the survival of a people in the land of their birth. And if INEC continues to deny us justice, then let it be known that we will not go quietly. We will rise boldly, lawfully and forcefully.

“THE FINAL REPORT OR FINAL RESISTANCE: WE WILL NOT ACCEPT POLITICAL SLAVERY”

INEC, understand this clearly: this is not about ballot boxes or registration figures. This is a struggle for our existence, identity and survival.

Your delay in announcing our rightful wards is not just a procedural lapse, it is the erasure of our voice. And when you erase our voice, you pave the road to political slavery, where we become spectators in a homeland built by the sweat and bones of our ancestors.

We did not chase out colonizers only to bow to domestic impostors.
We did not survive military dictatorship only to kneel before a compromised commission.
We did not raise a generation of educated sons and daughters only to be governed by media-fueled falsehoods.

Release the final report or prepare for resistance beyond control, not with guns but with purpose. Not with violence but with resolve.

“JUSTICE DENIED IS VIOLENCE INVITED: INEC IS PLAYING WITH FIRE IN WARRI”

There is a red line and INEC is dangerously close to crossing it.

Each moment of delay pushes Warri closer to the edge. Each second of silence signals complicity. And when the people believe that justice no longer exists, resistance becomes inevitable.

You are not preserving peace. You are provoking war.
You are not stabilizing the region. You are radicalizing a patient people.
Do not act surprised when things explode, you lit the fuse.

“THE LIES OF FEW CONNOT SILENCE THE MAJORITY — INEC, PUBLISHED THE WARDS NOW”

The Ijaw people are the indisputable majority in Warri South-West, this is not propaganda. It is fact. It is backed by field data. It is confirmed by your own reports.

Why then does INEC tremble before a minority clique?
Why is the voice of a few more powerful than the rights of the many?

This is not democracy. This is not justice. This is political hostage-taking and INEC is enabling it.

“YOU SAW THEIR
NUMBERS, YOU COUNTED THEIR LIES, NOW TELL THE WORLD THE TRUTH”

You came. You saw. You documented.

You toured the creeks, you entered Ijaw towns, you inspected schools, polling units, oil installations and you saw the truth with your own eyes: Ijaw communities are larger, more numerous and more structured than those claiming superior stake.

You also visited Itsekiri enclaves and you saw how scattered and inflated their claims are.
So why does your hand tremble when the truth begs to be written?

“FROM THE SUPREME COURT TO THE STREET: THE IJAW PEOPLE WILL DEFEND THEIR LAND”

We obeyed the courts. We respected the Constitution. But law without enforcement is deceit.

The Supreme Court in Timinimi v INEC directed you to resume the delineation. You did. But now, you’ve stopped halfway, out of fear of Itsekiri tears?

Let it be known: we are moving from the courtroom to the streets.
We will mobilize. We will blockade. We will shut down operations. We will not allow political trespassers to divide our inheritance while we fold our arms.

“INEC IS NOT ABOVE THE LAWS: THE TIMINIMI V INEC JUDGEMENT MUST BE RESPECTED”

INEC is a creation of the law, not above it.

Your refusal to implement the Supreme Court’s judgment is not a delay; it is contempt of court, contempt of justice and contempt of the Ijaw people.

If you cannot respect the law, then INEC is nothing but an outlaw commission with no moral or constitutional authority.

“YOU DELAY THE TRUTH, WE WITHDRAW OUR CONSENT: NO INEC ACTIVITY WITHOUT JUSTICE”

Effective now, we withdraw all cooperation.
No logistics. No voter registration. No collation. No presence.
INEC will not operate on Ijaw soil until justice is done.

We will not endorse our own oppression.

“OUR PATIENCE IS NOT WEAKNESS: WE CHOOSE THE COURTROOM OVER
CRISES — DON’T PUSH US FURTHER”

Do not confuse our peace for fear.
Do not mistake our silence for surrender.

We are the same people who shook this nation during the resource control struggle.
We brought multinational oil companies to their knees.
And if you push us again, we will do more than you imagined.

“WE WILL DEFEND OUR LAND WITH FACTS, WITH LAW AND IF PUSHED — WITH FIRE”

We have evidence. We have legal victories. We have ancestral rights.

But if INEC continues to ignore these, if you keep insulting our people, we will defend our land with the fierce resistance of a people with nothing left to lose.

We are not afraid. We are not alone. And we will not fold.

FINAL WARNING

INEC, this is your moment to rise or fall.

You can choose justice and stand tall in the pages of Nigerian history
Or you can sink into infamy as the institution that set Warri ablaze again.

Announce the final delineation report now. Let justice be done. Or face resistance that history will never forget.

The clock is ticking.
The creeks are watching.
The ancestors are stirring.

Signed:

Chief Tiemopere Joshua (President)

Chief Ebikeke T. Goodstime
(Secretary)

Ijaw Stakeholders of Warri Federal Constituency

Cc: