WARD DELINEATION: Group Writes Open Letter To Federal Government, INEC, Office Of The National Security Adviser Over Delayed Implementation Of Warri Federal Constituency Ward Delineation Report -

By Esther David

OPEN LETTER TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF NIGERIA,
THE INDEPENDENT NATIONAL ELECTORAL COMMISSION (INEC),
AND THE NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER (NSA)
DATE: 5/1/2026

Defiance of the Supreme Court: Illegal Wards, Invalid Elections and the Collapse of Democracy in Warri

This is not a letter written in peace. It is written in fury, in defiance and in total rejection of a system that has perfected the art of choking justice while pretending to administer procedure. This is an open letter from a people pushed to the edge by deliberate silence and calculated delay, and it stands as a blunt reminder to the Federal Government of Nigeria that Warri, in its present condition, has no valid Federal Constituency. What exists today is not a constituency recognized by law but a hollow contraption sustained by judicial disobedience, institutional fear and political compromise. A constituency founded on illegality is no constituency at all.

What is unfolding in Warri is no longer administrative misconduct; it is a constitutional breakdown. It is an open rebellion against democracy, truth and lawful existence. The refusal to publish the final ward delineation result, after fieldwork was completed, after facts were verified on the ground, after truth stood exposed without dispute, is an act of aggression against an entire people. Delay has stopped being procedural. Delay has become policy. Delay has become a weapon of suppression.

Let it be stated without ambiguity: this delay constitutes a grave violation of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Section 1(1) affirms the supremacy of the Constitution, while Section 1(3) renders null and void any act or omission inconsistent with it. Section 235 leaves no room for negotiation, the decisions of the Supreme Court are final and binding on all authorities and persons. By refusing to act in obedience to the judgment of the apex court, INEC has placed itself in direct confrontation with the Constitution itself. This is not discretion. It is constitutional delinquency.

The wards struck out by the Supreme Court are legally dead. They are extinct in law. They cannot be resurrected by delay, silence, elite pressure or backroom interference. Any electoral activity conducted under those wards is unconstitutional, illegal and invalid ab initio. Votes cast under such an arrangement have no legal value. Mandates produced from such a process are fraudulent. Governance erected on judicial defiance is an affront to Section 14(2)(a) of the Constitution, which vests sovereignty in the people, not in institutions acting in bad faith.

This letter is also a final warning, measured, lawful but uncompromising. History is ruthless toward institutions that mock justice. When lawful remedies are deliberately blocked, frustration becomes inevitable. When institutions refuse to obey the law, they manufacture instability. No responsible government toys with constitutional breakdown at the local level because unresolved injustice is a seed of disorder with national consequences.

We reject every attempt to hold the Constitution hostage. We reject every effort to trade judicial truth for ethnic convenience. We reject the weaponization of time against justice. The people understand what is being done. The people know where responsibility lies. And the people will not accept a manufactured reality built on disobedience to the law.

Therefore, we demand without negotiation, without delay and without excuse, the immediate publication of the final ward delineation result exactly as concluded from the fieldwork. We demand absolute and total compliance with the Supreme Court judgment, including the permanent abandonment of all struck-out wards. We demand the immediate suspension of any electoral activity conceived or executed under those illegal wards. We demand that the Federal Government and the National Security Adviser act decisively to compel INEC to obey the Constitution it swore to uphold. We demand accountability for every official, institution or unseen hand obstructing this process and dragging Warri into constitutional limbo.

This is not a plea. It is not a threat. It is a final constitutional alarm. Publish the result. Obey the Supreme Court. Restore legality. Or accept full responsibility, legally, morally and historically for the consequences of sustained injustice.

Signed:

Dr, Selekeme Friday~ Chairman

Comr, Peter Okiemute ~ Secretary

United Youths of Warri Federal Constituency
Delta State, Nigeria

Cc:
The Senate President, National Assembly

The Speaker, House of Representatives

The Chief Justice of Nigeria

The Inspector-General of Police

National and International Media

Civil Society and Pro-Democracy Organizations