Ijaw and Urhobo leaders yesterday hailed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for releasing the final report of the ward delineation exercise in the Warri Federal Constituency.

At a joint media briefing, the Ijaw and Urhobo of Warri expressed their common position on the final report of the Supreme Court-ordered delineation of electoral wards and polling units in the Warri Federal Constituency of Delta State.

Recall that on May 4, 2026, both ethnic nationalities had urged INEC to release the final report of the fresh delineation exercise before the conduct of the 2027 elections as ordered by the Supreme Court on December 2, 2022.

Also, in December last year, they threatened that no election would be allowed in the Warri Federal Constituency if INEC failed to conclude the ward delineation exercise and release its report. They had also threatened to shut oil facilities.

But yesterday, the Ijaw and Urhobo of Warri applauded INEC for complying with the Supreme Court of Nigeria’s order by releasing the report.

They also thanked INEC for creating additional State House of Assembly constituencies for Warri North and Warri South-West local council areas of Delta State, and for issuing a directive for political parties’ primaries to be conducted immediately to nominate candidates to represent the different political parties in these new constituencies in the 2027 general elections.

They commended INEC for recommending the creation of additional Warri Federal Constituency 11 for Warri North and Warri South-West local council areas.

In a joint statement by Olorogun Victor Okumaga, Alaowei Denbo-Denbofa Owerkpodor, Dr Paul Bebenimibo, and Chief John Edger Etonvor, the Ijaw and Urhobo stated that the actions of INEC in creating additional state constituencies and recommending the creation of additional federal constituencies for Warri have substantially addressed the political agitations and restored peace to the Warri Federal Constituency of Delta State.

MEANWHILE, Itsekiri Leaders of Thought (ILOT) has faulted the fresh delineation of wards, polling units, and state constituencies proposed by INEC for Warri Federal Constituency.

ILOT described the process that produced the proposal as fraudulent, saying the fieldwork and GIS mapping conducted by INEC did not comply with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), the Electoral Act 2026, and INEC’s own guidelines for the delineation of wards and polling units.

The Secretary of ILOT, Sir Amorighoye Mene, in a statement, said the Itsekiri reject INEC’s recommendations.

The statement reads: “ILOT hereby rejects the new proposed fresh delineation of wards, polling units, state constituencies, and one additional federal constituency in Warri arising from the fieldwork and GIS mapping conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) released on May 20 in Asaba, Delta State.

“While we welcome the creation of two additional state constituencies and one federal constituency, the devil is in the details/composition. The composition is based on the earlier rejected fraudulent data released by INEC on April 4, 2025, at Asaba, Delta State.