What began with great expectations in belief of a positive breakthrough for the Ijaws of Warri Federal Constituency—a constituency made up of Warri South, Warri South-West, and Warri North local government areas of Delta State—ended on a less positive note as Ijaw women, in company of Urhobo women, who felt the report tendered by leaders in the Constituency after meeting with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, did not match the reality on ground as well as the efforts they had put in to press home their collective demand for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to implement its report of May 20, 2026, a product from its fieldwork embarked upon in obedience to the Supreme Court judgment.

Recall that the women had mobilised in a peaceful protest across the Constituency to occupy crude oil production platforms, shutting down operations of companies in the process. Their actions drew national and international attention, and prompted the Presidency to intervene by meeting with representatives of the indigenous Ijaw, Itsekiri, and Urhobo ethnic nationalities in the Constituency to resolve the impasse.

On returning from that meeting, the leaders of the Ijaw and the Urhobo ethnic groups, who had forged a common front to agitate for justice on the disputed issue of wards allocation, delivered a press briefing where they informed members of their constituents on the latest development, on Sunday, June 15, 2026.

Speaking on behalf of the women after the presentation and visibly angry at the latest tendered report, Chief Vero Tangbowei Emmanuel, JP, the Iyela-ere of Izon Nation, asked rhetorically, "Why should four kingdoms have 11 wards while one kingdom has nine wards? What kind of sharing formula is that?" in reference to her immediate constituency, Warri South-West, where, according to amendments after intervention by the Presidency, 11 wards were allocated to the Ijaws, while 9 wards were allocated to the Itsekiris.

Before the meeting with the President, cumulatively, the Ijaws in the three LGAs had 27 Registration Areas/Electoral Wards, while the Itsekiris had 21. But after intervention from the Presidency, the Ijaws were reduced to 24 (Warri South 3, Warri South-West 11; Warri North 10), while the Itsekiris moved to 27 (Warri South 8, Warri South-West 9; Warri North 10).

For Chief Vero Emmanuel, she just could not work around the mathematical magic of how a majority became a minority when it had been confirmed that the Ijaws' make-up 75 percent of the population in Warri South-West alone. In the INEC May 20, 2026 report, the Ijaws in Warri South-West formerly had 14 Registration Areas/Electoral Wards, compared to the Itsekiris with only 4.

But she was not alone. The current report was greeted with mixed feelings by other stakeholders, but because the leaders of the ethnic groups have succumbed to the development out of respect for the office of the Presidency, they had to lie low, grudgingly.

"The Ijaws and Urhobos of Warri wish to state clearly that we accepted the Presidential intervention on the alteration to the Registration Areas / Electoral Wards composition/structure for Warri South West LGA not because we are satisfied, but as mark of respect for the highest office in the land, the office of President and Commander-in-Chief," the elders clarified.

Though there were some positive developments from INEC such as the creation of additional state constituencies for Warri North and Warri South-West LGAs, and its recommendation for the creation of an additional Warri Federal Constituency II to cover the two LGAs, while Warri South would be covered by Warri Federal Constituency 1, nonetheless, the people feel they have been robbed in broad daylight as some stakeholders noted that the report screams a loud INJUSTICE!

"So after everything, this is where we are? So our children will now be the ones to continue this battle against oppression?" a female stakeholder could be heard lamenting among the groups of women. But the question that is on the lips of majority of Ijaw and Urhobo stakeholders is: "Will a spade ever become a spade in the Nigerian polity when truth is subverted under the guise of influence?"

View photos here of Ijaw and Urhobo women at the briefing: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1DLp6AkXqW/

#penglobalcommunity #INEC #WarriFederalConstituency #Delta