The Independent National Electoral Commission has suspended all actions on the delineation of electoral wards in Warri Federal Constituency, Delta State.
INEC’s Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Victoria Eta-Messi, confirmed the decision on Saturday, saying the issue had been referred to the Office of the National Security Adviser.
“This matter was brought to the attention of the NSA. So, at the moment, we cannot take any further action,” Eta-Messi told our correspondent.
She, however, explained that the Continuous Voter Registration exercise in Warri would go on as scheduled, making use of the existing polling units and registration areas.
“CVR is ongoing in the constituency, using the existing PUs and RAs,” she added.
The suspension comes weeks after members of the Urhobo and Ijaw communities from Warri North, Warri South, and Warri South West staged a peaceful protest at INEC headquarters in Abuja on September 9.
The protesters demanded full compliance with a Supreme Court judgment delivered on December 2, 2022, which ordered a fresh delineation of electoral wards in the constituency.
In a petition to INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, the groups warned that going ahead with voter registration without the court-ordered delineation was unconstitutional.
“We can no longer wait while our democratic rights, guaranteed by the constitution and reaffirmed by the Supreme Court judgment, are being eroded. INEC should immediately release and implement the report painstakingly embarked upon by stakeholders. We shall not idly stand by and watch our democratic rights and franchise fretted away,” the petition read.
The Supreme Court had ruled that the current delineation in Warri was outdated and did not reflect the constituency’s population. It directed INEC to carry out a fresh exercise.
INEC later began consultations in early 2023, with fieldwork ending in July 2024. A draft report was presented to stakeholders at a public forum in Warri on April 4, 2025, but a follow-up statement from the commission on April 10 noted that no final decision had been made and called for more feedback.
Online voter registration in the constituency began on August 18, while physical registration started on August 25.
