A storm is brewing in the oil-rich Warri South West Local Government Area as the Ogbe-Ijoh Kingdom and its oil-producing communities have accused officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of bias and compromise in the ongoing electoral ward delineation exercise.
In a press conference held on Tuesday in Tekedor/Kusimi (Egwa II Community), community leaders warned that they may shut down vital oil and gas installations if what they describe as “monumental injustice” is not urgently addressed.
The outrage stems from INEC’s interim report, released on April 4, 2025, which allocated only two electoral wards to the Ogbe-Ijoh Kingdom out of the 19 created in Warri South West LGA. According to the aggrieved communities, Gbaramatu Kingdom was assigned nine wards, while Itsekiri communities received five, a distribution the Ogbe-Ijoh people say is not only unjust but violates both the Electoral Act 2022 and INEC’s own delineation guidelines.
Speaking on behalf of the communities, Deacon Clement Tekedor, Chief Samson Oyimi, Emmanuel Kusimi, and Hon. Johnbull Aniyanghan described INEC’s action as a betrayal of democratic principles. They cited the March 2024 guidelines which emphasize that population, geographical compactness, and contiguity must be the key criteria in ward delineation. They claim that INEC’s fieldwork covered 130 communities within Ogbe-Ijoh Kingdom and identified 251 points for the creation of new polling units, yet the region was allotted only two wards.
Read also:
- Ijaw Youth Council urges FG to provide urgent relief for flood-hit communities in Delta
- U.S city proclaims Ijaw Day as diasporans honour Jonathan, others
- Tension in Warri as Urhobo, Itsekiri rejects INEC’s delineation, accused commission of conniving with Ijaw
Ogbe-Ijoh leaders argue that their kingdom accounts for over 40% of the entire Warri South West LGA’s population and landmass. Data from the National Population Commission in 2023 reportedly shows 116 of the 290 recorded settlements are located in Ogbe-Ijoh. They insist that the numbers clearly demonstrate their demographic and geographic superiority over both Gbaramatu and Itsekiri communities, contrary to INEC’s justification for the lopsided ward allocation.
The communities further allege that certain powerful INEC officials have been working in collusion with political stakeholders in the LGA to marginalize Ogbe-Ijoh people and suppress their political influence. They claim that the same officials responsible for the initial “injustice” are also overseeing the complaints and review process, which has allegedly resulted in recommendations worse than the original interim report.
“We reject this calculated political marginalization. There is no empirical record showing Gbaramatu is five times more populated than Ogbe-Ijoh, or that the Itsekiri communities are three times bigger. The figures being used are fabricated to justify an anti-Ogbe-Ijoh agenda,” the leaders declared.
They are now demanding the allocation of at least eight electoral wards to their kingdom, aligning with their actual population, landmass, and settlements. Failure to meet this demand, they warned, will lead to drastic action that could affect Nigeria’s oil economy.
“We host major oil and gas assets, including the Ajuju/Batan oil field, Egwa II flow station, Odidi I and II fields, and facilities within OML 30, OML 42, and PPL 213. If INEC refuses to correct this injustice, we will be left with no choice but to shut down these installations. We cannot guarantee continued oil and gas production under this oppression,” the statement read.
