This Tactical Delay Must Stop: Announce The Final Ward Delineation Report For Warri Federal Constituency Now__

By Esther David

OPEN LETTER TO INEC AND THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF NIGERIA

RE: THIS TACTICAL DELAY MUST STOP: ANNOUNCE THE FINAL WARD DELINEATION RESULT FOR WARRI FEDERAL CONSTITUENCY NOW

From: Concerned Ijaw & Urhobo Stakeholders of Warri Federal Constituency
Date: [1/9/2025]

When Truth is Delayed, Falsehood is Empowered

We write in anger and pain because the deliberate tactical delay by INEC in publishing the Supreme Court–ordered final ward delineation result for Warri Federal Constituency is nothing but an insult to the Constitution and an open provocation to peace in our land.

Let it be stated without ambiguity: the Itsekiri have no valid petition. What they parade as petitions are born out of fear, fear that their lies, manipulations, colonial favoritism and decades of fraudulent advantage have finally been exposed by the delineation exercise.

The Supreme Court in SC/CV/1033/2023, Timinimi v. INEC has spoken. Section 287(1) of the Constitution makes obedience compulsory:

“The decisions of the Supreme Court shall be enforced in any part of the Federation by all authorities and persons, and by courts with subordinate jurisdiction to that of the Supreme Court.”

Why has INEC obeyed delineation rulings in Ebonyi (2007), Kano (2013), Anambra (2015), Kaduna (2019) but refuses in Warri? This is selective justice, unconstitutional and dangerous.

Historical Declarations They Want to Hide

The Itsekiri cry of “fraudulent delineation” collapses before history itself:

1485 (Duarte Pacheco Pereira): Documented the Ijaw (Gbaramatu & Ogbe-Ijoh) as the original inhabitants of Escravos and Warri creeks.

1716 (Dutch Records): Recorded Ijaw naval dominance in the Warri axis.

1928 Warri Township Intelligence Report (Mr. Prethero, CSO 26/Vol.6/08549): Confirmed Ogbe-Ijoh as the original landowners of Warri Township.

1932 Warri Intelligence Report (CSO 26/08549): Warned colonial officers that Itsekiri were fraudulently laying claims to Ijaw and Urhobo lands.

1952 Olu Title Fraud: The British deceitfully changed the title from Olu of Itsekiri to Olu of Warri, against protests of Urhobo and Ijaw leaders. Chief Mukoro Mowoe of the UPU rightly declared: “This is a travesty to turn landlords into tenants in their ancestral home.”

These records prove Itsekiri dominance is manufactured fraud, not history. INEC’s delineation simply aligned with truth, population and the Constitution.

The Constitutional Mandate Betrayed

INEC’s delay is an affront to the Constitution:

Section 14(2)(b): “The security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government.” INEC’s silence is stoking unrest in Warri.

Section 42(1): Prohibits ethnic discrimination. INEC’s selective obedience discriminates against Ijaw and Urhobo while privileging Itsekiri.

Sections 112–115: Ward delineation must reflect population, contiguity and community of interest. That is exactly what was done.

Section 287(1): Compels obedience to Supreme Court rulings. INEC’s delay is unconstitutional defiance.

No clause in the Constitution allows INEC to obey the Supreme Court in Kaduna but ignore the Supreme Court in Warri.

INEC Must Stand on Truth, Not Manipulation

INEC, you went to the field. You saw the Ijaw and Urhobo majority in Warri South, Warri South-West and Warri North. You counted polling units. You measured landmass. You acknowledged population figures.

Why then are you silent now? Because of threats and propaganda?

No colonial fraud, no propaganda, no manipulation can erase the truth you verified.

Our Irreversible Position

We declare without apology:

No Final Ward Delineation, No Continuous Voter Registration (CVR).

Warri cannot enter another electoral cycle under the fraudulent structure that gave six wards to Itsekiri, four to Ijaw and zero to Urhobo. That apartheid arrangement has collapsed under the weight of law and history.