KEY POINTS
- Itsekiri Leaders of Thought reject INEC’s fresh delineation for Warri Federal Constituency.
- They say INEC overstepped its mandate and relied on data they had already rejected.
- The group wants the Federal Government to investigate and urges calm.
Itsekiri Leaders of Thought have rejected the fresh Warri delineation that the Independent National Electoral Commission proposed for the Warri Federal Constituency, calling the underlying data deeply flawed. In a statement, the group’s secretary, Sir Amorighoye Mene, said the Itsekiri cannot accept INEC’s recommendations. Moreover, he urged the Federal Government to investigate how the commission ran the exercise.
The Warri delineation objections
ILOT argued that INEC’s fieldwork and GIS mapping breached the 1999 Constitution, the Electoral Act 2026 and the commission’s own guidelines. Specifically, the group said the new plan rests on data it had already rejected from an April 2025 exercise in Asaba. Delineation sets the boundaries of wards and constituencies, and it shapes how communities vote and win representation. However, ILOT welcomed one part of the outcome, since it backs the creation of two new state constituencies and one federal constituency. “The devil is in the details,” the statement said, pointing to the composition.
The group also drew a line around INEC’s role. Indeed, ILOT said the commission strayed beyond its mandate when it identified communities, interpreted demographics and classified territory. “INEC’s role is strictly administrative and electoral, not ethnographic or territorial,” the statement said. Therefore, the group rejected any use of unofficial population estimates or aerial mapping as a basis for delineation.
The Supreme Court and the data dispute
ILOT acknowledged the Supreme Court ruling in Suit No. SC/143/2016, which directed INEC to redo the delineation in Warri South, Warri South-West and Warri North. However, the group stressed that the court never branded the existing wards, polling units or voter register as fake. Consequently, ILOT argued, INEC had no basis to discard the old structures wholesale.
The statement also challenged the claim that Ijaw and Urhobo communities lack political representation in the constituency. On the contrary, ILOT said both groups have long held, and still hold, significant offices across the three local government areas. Additionally, the group cited independent survey experts who flagged major errors in the proposed polling unit coordinates.
According to those findings, several units sit outside their designated local governments. Others, the group said, fall inside rivers, swamps, forests, or even Edo and Ondo states, far from any habitable community.
Calls for a probe and calm
ILOT said it has filed formal objections with INEC and the Office of the National Security Adviser, and it wants those concerns taken seriously. Meanwhile, the group called on the Federal Government to investigate the exercise and hold any culpable officials accountable. The dispute adds to long-running tension over political boundaries in oil-rich Warri, where the Itsekiri, Ijaw and Urhobo have competed for influence for decades.
At the same time, the leaders urged restraint. While tensions over Warri politics run high, ILOT condemned any threat to peace, security or infrastructure. “We urge all stakeholders to pursue lawful, peaceful, and democratic engagement,” the statement said, as INEC continues its consultations toward a final decision.
