Delineation: Ogbe-Ijoh Leaders Defend Allocated Wards in Warri South

Sylvester Idowu in Warri

Residents of Ogbe-Ijoh have called for the creation of more wards for the Ijaws of Warri South Local Government Area of Delta State, asserting that the three wards delineated to the Ijaws in the area by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) following the Supreme Court order were not new but to right an “injustice” which denied them representation in the council’s administration in the past years.

They called on INEC to create more wards, as well as create a state constituency for the Ijaws of Warri South LGA.

The Ogbe-Ijoh people, while addressing journalists in Warri yesterday, said the clarification became necessary following claims by neighbouring Itsekiris that they were not part of Warri South Local Government Area in the series of protest that followed the release of fieldwork report to the three ethnic nationalities – Ijaws, Itsekiris and Urhobos-of the Warri federal constituency.

The Ijaw Focal Persons for the INEC delineation exercise, Chief Monday Keme and Moses Fiyebor, in  statement noted that the Ogbe-Ijoh people explained that the issue of being part of Warri South was raised and addressed at the INEC stakeholders’ meetings.

Parts of the statement read: “It is important to note with specific reference to the Supreme Court ordered delineation that the issue of whether the Ogbe-Ijoh (Ijaw) people are part of Warri South Local Government Area or not was raised at the INEC stakeholders meeting by the Itsekiris, reflected in the minutes of stakeholders meetings and it was dealt with by the stakeholders in the said meetings by resolving that from available intelligence reports, legal documents, physical communities on ground and existing electoral polling units, the Ogbe-Ijoh (Ijaw) people are integral part of Warri South LGA but denied electoral representation by not having homogenous electoral wards of their own, but balkanised into different polling units in different wards in Warri South LGA. The Itsekiris too admitted this fact.

“It was on this basis that at the stakeholders’ meeting of Ijaw, Itsekiri and Urhobo held on July 8, 2024, at the Government House Annex, Warri, preparatory to starting the fieldwork in Warri South LGA, a team of INEC Field Officers were assigned to the Ijaw areas in Warri South LGA, just as INEC Field Officers were assigned to the Itsekiri and Urhobo areas. Furthermore, the INEC field officers assigned to the Ijaw areas were the only ones who covered the Ijaw areas covered by the proposed Ewein, Bulouama, Ogbe-Ijoh Warri Urban and part of GRA wards of Warri South LGA,” he stated.

Giving further historical instances, the statement said in 1955 the Ogbe-Ijoh (Ijaw) people were included in the Warri Urban District Council together with a section of Urhobo and Itsekiri with “four autonomous electoral wards which were– Alders town B3, Ogbe-Ijoh Ward C1, Ogbe-Ijoh Ward C2 and Government Area F1. 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.

“The introduction of Local Government Administration and the subsequent delineation of electoral wards in the area concerned led to the balkanization of the hitherto homogenous Ijaw fours in Warri South LGA into mere polling units in different wards mainly as minorities. The electoral wards that, the Ogbe-Ijoh people were balkanized into before the Supreme Court Ordered delineation of electoral wards were Pessu, GRA, Bowen and Okere wards.

“The Ogbe-Ijoh areas were balkanized into these electoral wards and thereby making them minorities and politically weak. 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. The recent exercise only seeks to correct an obvious injustice where the Ijaws in Warri South LGA are delineated into different polling units and denied representation in the Warri South LGA administration.” it added.

Commending INEC for commencing the delineation process despite several litigations against the commission, the people, however, called for creation of more wards for the area.

“However, the Ogbe-Ijoh people state that, their areas should have been delineated into at least five homogenous electoral wards. 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,” the Ogbe-Ijoh people stated.

Appealing for state representation, the people said: “We call for creation of additional state Constituency for the Ijaws of Warri South. This is predicated on the ground that the Itsekiris and Urhobos already have their own constituency.”