Why INEC Suspended Warri Federal Constituency’s Delineation

Director of Voter Education and Publicity, of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Victoria Eta-Messi, has explained why INEC suspended all activities relating to the delineation of electoral wards in the Warri Federal Constituency of Delta State.

Eta-Messi, confirmed the development on Saturday, stating that the issue has been escalated to the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA).

Speaking, Eta-Messi said, “This matter was brought to the attention of the NSA. At the moment, we cannot take any further action,”

She, however, clarified that the suspension of the ward delineation exercise will not affect the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) currently ongoing in the constituency.

“CVR is ongoing in the constituency using the existing polling units (PUs) and registration areas (RAs),” she told.

This development follows a peaceful protest staged weeks earlier by members of the Urhobo and Ijaw communities from Warri North, Warri South, and Warri South-West Local Government Areas.

On September 9, the protesters stormed INEC headquarters in Abuja to demand immediate implementation of a 2022 Supreme Court judgment directing a fresh delineation of electoral wards in Warri.

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During the protest, community representatives submitted a petition to INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, warning that conducting voter registration without implementing the court-ordered delineation would be unconstitutional.

“We can no longer wait while our democratic rights, guaranteed by the constitution and reaffirmed by the Supreme Court judgment, are being eroded.

INEC should immediately release and implement the report painstakingly prepared by stakeholders.
We will not stand idly by while our democratic rights and franchise are frittered away,” the petition read.

Background: Supreme Court Judgment of 2022

On December 2, 2022, the Supreme Court ruled that the existing ward delineation in Warri was outdated and no longer reflected the constituency’s population. The court directed INEC to carry out a comprehensive re-delineation of electoral wards.

Following the judgment, INEC began consultations in early 2023 and concluded fieldwork in July 2024. A draft report was presented to stakeholders at a public forum in Warri on April 4, 2025.

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INEC later clarified in a statement issued on April 10 that no final decision had been reached on the delineation exercise and invited stakeholders to submit feedback on the draft report.

(TheNewsGuru.com(TNG)