Leaders of the indigenous Ijaw and Urhobo people of Warri Federal Constituency have asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to halt the ongoing continuous voter registration in the area until it complies with the Supreme Court order on fresh ward delineation.
At a world press conference in Warri on Monday, the leaders declared the current exercise “criminal, illegal and contemptuous of the Supreme Court judgment,” insisting that there are no valid wards or polling units in Warri upon which the registration can lawfully stand.
Reading the joint position of the group, Olorogun Victor Okumagba, a prominent son of Okere Urhobo kingdom, said:
“We will not participate in the ongoing continuous voter registration. INEC wants to disenfranchise us. It is criminal, illegal and contemptuous of the Supreme Court judgment for INEC to proceed with registration in Warri Federal Constituency, as there are no longer electoral wards and units upon which the exercise can stand.”
The group reminded INEC that the Supreme Court, in its December 2, 2022 judgment, ordered the Commission to conduct a fresh delineation of wards and polling units in Warri South, Warri South-West and Warri North LGAs, after admitting that the original delineation was flawed and politically manipulated.
“The Supreme Court has already ruled that the existing wards are fictitious, skewed and incapable of supporting credible elections. In the eyes of the law, there are no longer wards in Warri until INEC completes a fresh delineation. As Lord Denning once said, you cannot put something on nothing and expect it to stand,” the statement noted.
The leaders further recalled that INEC had met stakeholders in February 2023 and again on April 4, 2025, when it presented a draft report of the delineation exercise. But five months later, they alleged, the Commission has failed to publish the final report, “choosing instead to move ahead with preparations for future elections.”
“We are fully convinced that INEC’s seemingly compromised independence, lack of resolve, and vulnerability to selfish external influence has delayed the release and implementation of this crucial report, which is vital to defining and enhancing our democratic participation,” the leaders said.
In their separate remarks, Chief Godspower Gbenakama, Dr. Joel Bisina, Reverend Samuel Ako, Chief Emmanuel Sekondi and Chief John Eranvor, called on INEC to act swiftly to avert another round of crisis in Warri.
“We are capable of shutting down oil operations in our areas, but as peace-loving people, we will use all necessary democratic processes to fight for what is right,” they warned.
The statement accused INEC of “undermining and debasing the rule of law, suppressing fundamental democratic rights, and unconscionably dealing a death blow to democracy in Warri.”
“We shall not idly stand by and watch our democratic rights and franchise fretted away by INEC’s lawlessness and disastrous irresponsibility. A stitch in time saves nine,” the leaders concluded.
