The people of Ogbe-Ijoh Warri Kingdom in Warri South Local Government Area of Delta State have commended the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, for carrying out the recent ward delineation in the Warri Federal Constituency with all fairness "to all the ethnic nationalities and stakeholders" which has proven that they are a part of the Warri South LGA of the state.

The position of the Ogbe-Ijoh people was made known by Chief Monday Keme, the Principal Secretary to His Royal Majesty, the Amaokosu of Ogbe-Ijoh Warri Kingdom, at a press briefing that held in Ogbokone Community Town Hall, Market Road in Warri, on Friday, April 11, 2025.

Throwing more light on the development, Chief Keme stated that the press briefing was initiated to set the records straight and to address claims from the Itsekiri people and their allies that the Ogbe-Ijoh people are not a part of Warri South LG.

He stated that the issue of whether the Ogbe-Ijoh people are a part of Warri South was resolved at the stakeholders meeting of July 8, 2024, held at the Government House Annex Warri, before the commencement of the fresh delineation exercise by INEC in Warri South with "available intelligence reports, legal documents, physical communities on ground and existing electoral polling units" which proved they were an Integral part of Warri South but "denied electoral representation by not having homogeneous electoral wards of their own" due to their "balkanization into different polling units in different wards."

The Principal Secretary further revealed historically that "the present Warri started from Ogbe-Ijoh" with the establishment of the first local administrative structure in 1955 that placed the Ogbe-Ijoh people "in the Warri Urban District Council together with a section of Urhobo and Itsekiri as defined by Western Regions Laws of Nigeria No. 177 of 1955" that resulted in fours wards of Alders Town B3, Ogbe-Ijoh Ward C1, Ogbe-Ijoh Ward C2 and Government Area F1 for the Ogbe-Ijoh people.

Speaking further he said, "This structure with elected Ogbe-Ijoh Councillors remained operational till sometime in 1976, when the Olusegun Obasanjo’s Military Government introduced Local Government reforms giving birth to the present local Government structure. The defunct Warri Urban District Council is today known as the Warri South Local Government Council.

"It is important to note that, before the introduction of Local Government Administration, there were Seven (7) District Councils in the Warri area, including the Warri Urban District Council, which was only the Warri main City. But the Ode-Itsekiri District Council which was not part of the Warri Urban District Council was included to make up the present Warri South LGA."

The introduction of LG Administration in 1976, he said, further balkanized the Ijaws of Ogbe-Ijoh, arising from subsequent delineation of electoral wards, which placed them to be a part of "Pessu, GRA, Bowen and Okere wards" thereby making them politically weak, stressing that "Since the 1976 balkanization of our homogenous four electoral wards, we have always protested and made known to successive electoral bodies of the need to balance the lopsided electoral wards in Warri South Local Government without much success before a group of patriotic Ijaw men sought legal redress leading to the celebrated Supreme Court judgement in December 2nd, 2022.

"It is these Ijaw areas previously delineated in 1955 as Alder's Town B2, Ogbe-Ijoh C1, Ogbe-Ijoh C2 and Government Area F1, that the INEC Field Officers assigned to the Ijaw areas visited and delineated as Bulou-Ama Ward 02, Ewein Ward 07 and Ogbe-Ijoh Warri Urban Ward 12 and the part of Ogbe-Ijoh areas in the GRA Ward 08. Hence, the delineation of electoral wards and polling units to cover the Ijaw areas in Warri Urban is not a new development, but has been in existence for decades even before those protesting were born," he stressed, adding that it "only seeks to correct an obvious injustice" that existed in the Warri South LG.

Chief Keme also reiterated the fact that "contrary to the false impression been created by the Itsekiris, the Ijaw areas have always been separated from the Itsekiri areas in Warri Urban. It is for this reason that, the Chiefs Law of 1957, CAP 19, provides that, the authority of the Itsekiri monarch, the Olu of Warri excludes Ogbe-Ijoh areas. The 1979 Bendel State Traditional Rulers and Chiefs Edict, B.S.L.N 44, described the Amaokosu of Ogbe-Ijoh as the prescribed authority of Ogbe-Ijoh lands and people in Warri metropolis. This meant that, all the lands of the Ijaw of Ogbe-Ijoh are excluded from claims by the Itsekiri people.

"Furthermore, the Delta State Traditional Rulers, Chiefs and Council Law, Vol. 3, now cap T3 Laws of Delta State, 2006 recognizes four Clans in Warri Metropolis: Itsekiri Kingdom, where the Olu is the prescribed authority, Okere-Urhobo Kingdom where the Orosuen of Okere-Urhobo is the prescribed authority, Agbassa Kingdom where the Ovie of Agbarha is the prescribed authority and the Ogbe-Ijoh Kingdom where the Amaokosu of Ogbe-Ijoh is the prescribed authority of Ogbe-Ijoh Kingdom in Warri metropolis," as "confirmed by the Court of Appeal in Appeal No. CA/AS/441/2016 in a judgement delivered on the 5th of June 2023."

The Ogbe-Ijoh people therefore commended the Commission for embarking on the delineation process despite the series of litigation against it by the Itsekiri while it called on INEC to have created at least five electoral wards for them, hinging its claims on the fact that, "If the Ogbe-Ijoh people had four electoral wards as far back as 1955, it is only fair for the number to be increased decades after. We therefore call for the creation of more electoral wards for Ijaws in Warri Urban and also urge the Independent National Electoral Commission to disregard frivolous protests against the delineation exercise in Warri South LGA by the Itsekiris," he added.

For clarity, he added that "The Ogbe-Ijoh Warri Kingdom is one Kingdom but divided into two parts by the Warri River. In the beginning, the part we have in Warri South-West, then under the Warri Divisional Council, had its own district council. The part today in Warri South forms part of the Warri Urban District Council as defined by Western Region Laws No. 177 of 1955. The point here is that, for purpose of administrative conveniences, the kingdom is in two local government. And this press briefing has to do with the issues raised in Warri South."

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