Warri Fed Constituency: Ijaw, Urhobo writes Tinubu, says directive to INEC violates Constitution, oath of office ahead of 2027 polls

Indigenous Ijaw and Urhobo leaders of Warri Federal Constituency have written an open letter to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, accusing the Presidency of ordering the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to halt implementation of the Supreme Court-ordered fresh delineation of electoral wards and polling units in Warri North, Warri South, and Warri South West LGAs.

The leaders described the alleged presidential directive as “a direct attack and desecration of the 1999 Constitution” and warned that it undermines democracy, judicial authority, and INEC’s constitutional independence.

In the letter dated June 5, 2026, the Ijaw and Urhobo people recalled the Supreme Court judgment of December 2, 2022, in suit SC/413/2016: Hon. George U. Timinimi & Ors v. INEC. After 11 years of litigation, the apex court ordered INEC to conduct a fresh delineation of all electoral wards and polling units in Warri Federal Constituency “for the purpose of future elections.”

INEC, the group said, committed to obeying the judgment during a stakeholder meeting in Asaba on February 2, 2023. The Commission later conducted fieldwork from July 10–19, 2024, presented a draft report to stakeholders on April 4, 2025, and released the final delineation report in Asaba on May 20, 2026.

According to the leaders, INEC’s final report created two additional state constituencies in Warri North and Warri South West LGAs and recommended the creation of a new “Warri Federal Constituency II” to cover Warri North and Warri South West, subject to constitutional requirements. 

National Commissioner Alhaji Abdulrazaq Tukur Yusuf was quoted as promising that political parties would be directed to conduct primaries for the new state constituencies in line with the 2027 election timetable. The decisions, the group said, “were greeted with wide jubilations” across the constituency because they addressed “age-long demands.”

The jubilation was cut short, the leaders claimed, when information reached them that the Presidency had ordered INEC to stop further implementation of the final report due to objections raised by the Itsekiri ethnic nationality - one of the three indigenous groups in Warri Federal Constituency. 

They expressed belief that the directive stemmed from President Tinubu’s “matrimonial ties to the Itsekiri ethnic nationality.”

The group cited President Tinubu’s March 12, 2026 remarks to the Inter-Party Advisory Council, where he said: “Democracy is about the rule of law and that the rule of law must prevail in any democracy.”

They argued that the alleged directive to INEC contradicts the President’s oath of office sworn on May 29, 2023, in which he vowed “to discharge my duties… in accordance with the Constitution… not to allow my personal interest to influence my official conduct… to do right to all manner of people, according to law, without fear or favour, ill-will.”

The leaders invoked Section 287(1) of the 1999 Constitution, which mandates that “the decisions of the Supreme Court shall be enforced in any part of the Federation by all authorities and persons.” They also cited Section 160(1), which provides that INEC’s powers “shall not be subject to the approval or control of the President.”

They warned that truncating the Supreme Court’s order sets “a dangerous precedent” and “amounts to disrespect to the Supreme Court… May the day not come when orders of the apex court would be disregarded with impunity. That would portend a direct attack on the rule of law and direct invitation to anarchy.”

The group further stated that the President’s interference to make the report “favourable to the Itsekiri ethnic nationality and at the expense of the Ijaws and Urhobos” violates his oath to treat all Nigerians equally.

The Ijaw and Urhobo people of Warri Federal Constituency made two prayers:  
● That the constitutional independence of INEC be respected by all organs of the Federal Government in the interest of rule of law and democracy.  
● That the Presidency “stay clear from interfering in INEC’s statutory responsibility to implement the fresh delineation” as ordered by the Supreme Court ahead of the 2027 elections.

The letter was signed on behalf of the Indigenous Ijaw and Urhobo people of Warri Federal Constituency of Delta State.

As of press time, the Presidency and INEC had not issued an official response to the allegations.