RE: INEC’s Contempt Of Court Order And Ethnic Collaboration In Warri Federal Constituency -

By Uche Alvin

OPEN LETTER TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND THE NIGERIAN PUBLIC

RE: INEC’S CONTEMPT OF COURT AND ETHNIC COLLABORATION IN WARRI FEDERAL CONSTITUENCY
Date: 3/11/2025

A CRY AGAINST SILENCE: DEMOCRACY IS BLEEDING IN WARRI

We, the Indigenous Stakeholders, Community Leaders and Defenders of Justice in Warri Federal Constituency, write with deep disappointment to the Federal Government of Nigeria, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Our patience has reached its limit.
Our silence has been mistaken for weakness.
We will no longer tolerate this deliberate delay in publishing the final ward delineation result as ordered by the Supreme Court of Nigeria in Hon. George Timinimi & Ors v. INEC (SC/CV/1033/2022).

INEC IN CONTEMPT OF COURT

The Supreme Court, in its wisdom, delivered a binding judgment directing INEC to conduct and publish a lawful delineation of wards in Warri Federal Constituency before any electoral activity could take place. That judgment is final and absolute under Section 287(1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended):

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.”

INEC’s continuous refusal to obey this clear constitutional directive is a criminal contempt of court and a direct assault on Nigeria’s democracy.

No body, no office and no ethnic group is above the Supreme Court. Yet, INEC behaves as if the law of the land can be ignored when it concerns Warri.

COLLABORATION AND ETHNIC MANIPULATION

We have observed, with painful clarity, INEC’s collaboration with certain Itsekiri elites who have historically manipulated institutions to sustain minority domination over the Ijaw and Urhobo majorities in Warri.

The same people whose ancestors leased land from the Ijaws under British records now claim ownership over their landlords.
This deception has become the political strategy of the Itsekiri oligarchy, a tyranny of the minority sustained by falsehood and influence.

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The manipulation of INEC by the Itsekiri elite is not new; it is a continuation of a colonial pattern designed to favour a few at the expense of the true owners of the land.

HISTORICAL AND COLONIAL RECORDS SPEAK

The 1923 Land Lease Records confirm that Chief Dore Numa acquired lands from Ogbe-Ijoh people through lease, not inheritance.
The Privy Council Judgment of 1926 (Ometan v. Dore Numa) affirmed that Dore Numa had no native title over those lands.
The 1928 Warri Assessment Report declared:

Ogbe-Ijoh was the original settlement which became the nucleus of Warri Township.”

The Intelligence Report on Warri Province (1932) recorded that the Ijaw and Urhobo populations outnumbered the Itsekiri and that most riverine territories were historically Ijaw land.
The Chiefs Law (1957) and Bendel State Edict (B.S.L.N. 44 of 1979) recognized Ijaw kingships, including Ogbe-Ijoh and Gbaramatu as distinct traditional authorities outside Itsekiri control.
Court Judgments (W/53A/63, C/S/2/58, SC/208/2002) have repeatedly reaffirmed Ijaw land ownership and described the Itsekiris as customary tenants in many contested areas.

Yet, despite this overwhelming historical and legal evidence, INEC continues to bend to political pressure, maintaining fraudulent ward structures that reward Itsekiri minority control while denying representation to the Ijaw and Urhobo majorities.

EDUCATIONAL AND MORAL CONTEXT

Democracy, as Abraham Lincoln defined it, is “government of the people, by the people, for the people.”
But what we see in Warri is government of a few, by manipulation, for oppression.

Even colonial officers like Major Arthur Moore (1928) documented that Itsekiris occupied “narrow coastal strips,” while the Ijaws and Urhobos populated the hinterlands and creeks.
To ignore this truth is to perpetuate historical injustice under the guise of modern governance.

OUR DEMAND

We hereby demand, with immediate effect, that:

The Federal Government of Nigeria should order INEC to publish the final delineation result now, in compliance with the Supreme Court judgment.
INEC must cease its selective obedience to court orders.
No law allows the Commission to obey some judgments and defy others.
The National Assembly must summon INEC leadership to account for this contempt and dereliction of duty.
The International Community, including the United Nations, ECOWAS, AU and the U.S./U.K. Embassies, must observe this unfolding injustice and stand with the people of Warri before it escalates into another 1997-style crisis.

WE WILL NOT ACCEPT ANY ELECTION UNDER FRAUDULENT WARD STRUCTURES

The Supreme Court has spoken; the people have waited long enough.
No final delineation result, no Continuous Voter Registration (CVR).
No delineation, no election.

Democracy must not be a slave to tribal manipulation.

When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty.” Thomas Jefferson

CONCLUSION

We are the first inheritors of this land.
Our ancestors built Warri, not for tyranny but for coexistence.
Yet today, our patience is being mocked and our rights trampled.

INEC must remember: justice delayed is democracy denied.
Enough of this constitutional betrayal.
Enough of this selective justice.
Enough of this collaboration with oppression.

We demand the immediate publication of the final delineation result NOW!

Signed:

Dr, Peterson Ebigbagha

Chief, Faithful Odafe

Comr, Ebiowei Justice

Ijaw Stakeholders of Warri Federal Constituency

Urhobo Community Defenders
Guardians of Electoral Justice

Concerned Niger Delta Youth Forum

Cc:

The National Assembly of Nigeria

The National Security Adviser (NSA)

The Attorney General of the Federation