Warri Crisis: Ijaw, Urhobo Leaders Reject INEC’s Voter Registration, Demand Ward Delineation Report
REPRESENTATIVES of the Indigenous Ijaw and Urhobo people of Warri Federal Constituency have called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately halt the ongoing continuous voter registration (CVR) exercise in the area, insisting that it violates a subsisting Supreme Court judgment.
Speaking at a world press conference in Warri on Monday, a prominent son of Okere Urhobo Kingdom, Olorogun Victor Okumagba, who read the position of the group, said the Ijaws and Urhobos of the constituency will not participate in the exercise until INEC completes and publishes the long-awaited report on fresh ward delineation ordered by the apex court.
According to him, INEC’s decision to proceed with voter registration despite the absence of valid electoral wards and units in Warri is “criminal, illegal, and contemptuous of the Supreme Court judgment.”
“You cannot put something on nothing and expect it to stand,” Okumagba declared, stressing that INEC must implement the stakeholders’ report before any electoral process can be credible in the constituency.
The group recalled that on December 2, 2022, the Supreme Court ordered INEC to conduct a fresh delineation of wards and polling units in Warri South, Warri South-West, and Warri North local government areas, following years of disputes over skewed ward structures.
INEC, they noted, convened several meetings with stakeholders and, on April 4, 2025, presented a draft report of the delineation exercise in Asaba. However, five months later, the commission has yet to release a final version of the report.
Instead, they alleged, INEC has “moved ahead with preparations for future elections,” a step they described as a violation of the court’s directive and a threat to the democratic rights of indigenous groups in Warri.
Other speakers at the press briefing, including Chief Godspower Gbenakama, Dr. Joel Bisina, Reverend Samuel Ako, Chief Emmanuel Sekondi, and Chief John Eranvor, warned that while the indigenous peoples have the capacity to disrupt oil operations in the region, they prefer to pursue their demands through democratic means.
They, however, vowed to resist any attempt to disenfranchise them.“INEC should immediately release and implement the report painstakingly embarked upon by stakeholders. We shall not idly standby and watch our democratic rights and franchise fretted away by INEC’s lawlessness and disastrous irresponsibility,” the statement read in part.
The groups maintained that until the delineation is concluded, there are no valid wards or polling units in Warri Federal Constituency, and therefore, no lawful basis for voter registration or future elections.
