Scores of angry Warri Youth barricade INEC office, Abuja April 9 in protest against the bias ward delineation proposal released by the electoral umpire last week.
The youths have been protesting around the three Warris -Warri South, Warri North and Warri South-West since Saturday April 5, 2025.
They are calling on INEC withdraw the proposal and do it properly based on equity and available electoral laws; not an influenced procedures.
Omalo Tuoyo, spokesperson of the Warri protesting youths in Abuja addressing INEC officials said “we are returning this bias proposal to you as it does not reflect the reality on ground. We shall resist this so called proposal with every fiber in our body.”
Meanwhile Itsekiri natives Have Shut Down A 28,000 Barrels Per Day Oil Production Facility At Ogidigben, Warri in protest against the attempt to emasculate them in their own land.
It will be recalled that before this INEC gerrymandering, in Warri North, records show that the Itsekiris once commanded six wards while the Ijaws held four, dating back to 1999 and now INEC’s latest report paints a starkly different picture: out of a total of 18 wards, the Itsekiris—boasting 75,912 registered voters and 134 polling units—have been allocated just eight wards. Meanwhile, the Ijaws, with 35,480 voters and 58 polling units, have somehow been handed 10 wards.
The situation in Warri South West is no less of different as Itsekiris, with a voter strength of 94,074 and 175 polling units according to INEC’s register, have been relegated to just five wards out of the 19 delineated by INEC in their report. In contrast, the Ijaws, with a slightly higher voter count of 95,046 and 147 polling units, have been granted a whopping 14 wards in the same area.
In Warri South Local Government where Itsekiris muster a voting strength of 88,309 with 174 polling units, yet they’ve been assigned only eight wards. The Urhobos, with a significantly lower 38,000 voters and 72 polling units, have secured 10 wards. And in the mixed demographic zones, where about 51,517 voters and 105 polling units are recorded, the Ijaws have somehow snatched two wards.
Logic dictates that those with greater numbers of registered voters should naturally command more wards and polling units.