Hundreds of Ijaw elders and youths embarked on a solidarity protest at the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Abuja on Thursday over the recent ward delineation exercise in the three local Government Areas making up the Warri Federal Constituency.
The protesting Ijaws who came from the Gbaramatu, Egbema, Diebiri, Isaba communities said that they were in Abuja to commend INEC for the recent ward delineation exercise in the Warri Federal Constituency which they described as diligent.
The protesters who wielded various placards commending the electoral umpire for the ward delineation exercise said that the commission had discharged its duties effectively before stakeholders and the public.
Spokesman of the Ijaw kingdoms, Chief David Reje said that INEC has taken the right step, as a body committed to the rule of law, to implement the verdict of the Supreme Court which ordered the exercise.
Chief Reje dismissed the claims in some quarters that INEC did not consult stakeholders before kickstarting the ward delineation exercise.
He stressed that INEC started a comprehensive process of stakeholder engagement with the three ethnic national making up the constituency – Ijaw, Urhobo and Itsekiri.
He recalled that the Commission engaged the ethnic nationalities through their leaders and traditional rulers in Warri and Asaba and followed up with visits to the communities to get everybody’s support for the process.
He said; “Why we have come here is to appreciate you, to thank you for the good work you have done since 2022, after the Supreme Court judgment. You never jettisoned the judgment.
“You committed yourself to the rule of law and the principles of good governance and you really took it upon yourself to engage all the stakeholders of the nationalities of the Ijaws, the Itsekiris, and the Urhobos.
“You formed a committee, you went down, you were engaging them differently, and they were heavily represented by their leaders and their traditional rulers and at the end of it, you made out time to go to the communities of all the nationalities of the Itsekiri, the Ijaws, and the Urhobos.
“And by your fieldwork, you have been able to come out with a proposed document somehow, a proposed report. And we found out that some people are trying to become funny as if they were not involved in the whole process. We were all involved in the whole process, in Warri, in Asaba, and in everything. And everybody has given their assent to the process to be carried out.
“But I was so surprised from protests from some corners, particularly from our Itsekiri brothers, as if they were taking it on their back. Gone are the days when wards were allocated. Today, wards are given diligently through diligent ward delineation process, which is first of all carried out. So we have come to appreciate you, and to let the public know that you never did any job in the classroom, or in the bedroom, or in the room, the private room. It was a public work, a public assignment, demonstrated by mostly, going through the creeks, or the nooks and crannies of the three areas.
“Today, we have left our Egypt of political slavery to our promised land of political emancipation and political identity and dignity. Nobody will dictate a candidate for us, for councilors. Today, we have gotten our freedom. We have been set to make the world to know that the people who they termed minority are the true majority, which has been confirmed, which has been revealed to the whole world. The majority has come on board. The majority has come on the stream.
The majority has come for their political emancipation and political sovereignty. Our own is not to dominate anybody. Our own is not to set somebody aside. Let s all cooperate, work together as Nigerians, as brothers and sisters in a federal constituency to make sure that we build an environment that is politically endowed with the beauty of political democracy and freedom”.
The protesters were received by top INEC officials led by two National Commissioners, Processor Abdullahi Zuru and Malam Mohammed Haruna.
Prof. Zuru who spoke thanked them for appreciating the efforts of the commission.
He stressed that the commission would always ensure that the right thing is done at all time.
He said; “We want to thank you most sincerely for coming here as one of the major stakeholders in this discussion. Thank you for appreciating what the Commission has done so far.
“We want to assure you as a Commission, we are dedicated to doing what is right as far as democracy in Nigeria is concerned. And God willing, we will ensure that democracy at the end of the day is what decides everything that we do”.
Similarly, a former President of Gbaramatu Youths Council, Christopher Wuruyai, said that the delineation exercise was a true reflection of the population of the ethnic nationalities making up the constituency.
He said “The Ijaw people of Warri Federal Constituency have suffered injustice for 29 years, where wards were unilaterally allocated by the whims and caprices of certain individuals who had power to allocate wards to themselves.
“But today, INEC has done a diligent job. This job was done following the decision of the Ijaw people to take INEC to court, the matter went to the Appeal Court and they followed up diligently until it got to the Supreme Court. Judgement was given that INEC should go back and make a proper ward delineation.
“We were all part and parcel of this process and we are saying that we will continue to ensure that INEC’s stand on this issue prevails.”
INEC had formally presented a revised political structure that reflects the ethnic composition of the Warri federal constituency to representatives of the three ethnic groups at Asaba on April 5.
According to the commission, Warri North LGA now comprises 18 wards, with the Ijaw people holding 10 wards and the Itsekiri holding 8.
Warri South-West LGA consists of 19 wards, with the Ijaw dominating 14 wards, while the Itsekiri hold 5.
Warri South LGA features 20 wards distributed among the three major ethnic groups: Ijaw (3), Itsekiri (8), and Urhobo (9).
The presentation of the delineation report was led by the Delta State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Sir Etekamba Udo Umoren, at a stakeholders’ meeting held in Asaba.
