Political negotiations over electoral ward delineation in Warri South collapsed on November 4, 2026, after more than 500 Urhobo and Itsekiri residents staged a protest at the Independent National Electoral Commission office in Asaba, disrupting a scheduled stakeholder meeting.
Protesters Storm Asaba Office Over Alleged Fictitious Wards
Pandemonium broke out on Wednesday at the INEC stakeholders’ meeting in Asaba, Delta State, as angry youths and community members stormed the venue to protest the controversial delineation of wards in Warri Federal Constituency.
The protesters accused the electoral commission of introducing fictitious names, unfamiliar ward identities, and questionable polling units into the electoral structure of the local government area. According to Urhobo representative Eforele Marcus, the changes threatened the political representation of local communities with strange designations that lacked ancestral roots.
I have never heard of them before,
Eforele Marcus, Urhobo representative
Samuel Meyiwa expressed disappointment that the latest list released by INEC failed to reflect agreements reached by stakeholders, which had required that fictitious names and addresses allegedly introduced into the electoral records of Warri South be removed. Meyiwa emphasized that the protest aimed to demand fairness and respect for the agreement reached by stakeholders rather than generate hostility between the Itsekiri and other ethnic groups.
We are here for INEC to correct the wrongs it has done,
Eforele Marcus, Urhobo representative
Protesters warned that if INEC insisted on using this fraudulent report in 2027, there will be no election in Warri Federal Constituency.
Security Concerns and Official Responses in Delta State
Delta State Resident Electoral Sir Etekamba Udo Umoren addressed the crowd, acknowledging their right to peaceful protest while urging them to avoid violence and channel their complaints through formal documentation.
Angry youths disrupt INEC Nigeria stakeholders meeting in asaba over alleged ward fraud. Their stance is, there is no single ljaw aborinal community in Warri South. And the Delta State INEC Chairman escaped through the backdoor. The people said, if INEC insist on working with the… pic.twitter.com/ceYK5pQOM8
I have seen all the placards you are carrying. There are so many of them, and I cannot recall all the messages at the same time.
Sir Etekamba Udo Umoren, Resident Electoral Commissioner
Umoren also cautioned against escalation:
At the end of the day, you don’t throw stones into the market when you don’t know who is inside. Violence is not what we need. Let us pursue our demands peacefully,
Sir Etekamba Udo Umoren, Resident Electoral Commissioner
Delta State Commissioner of Police Samuel Etaifo Erale also intervened, noting that he was hearing of the grievances for the first time after spending less than two months in the state. Erale pledged to escalate the matter to national law enforcement.
I will write to the Inspector-General of Police to inform him that this matter has the potential to cause trouble in Delta State and urge him to look into it.
CP Samuel Etaifo Erale, Delta State Commissioner of Police
The commissioner appealed for community cooperation, drawing on his prior experience as Commissioner of Police during the last governorship election in Osun State: I am ready to replicate the same thing here in Delta State. Please, on my honour, do this for me,
President Tinubu Convenes Peace Meeting over Warri Delineation Dispute
The current dispute traces back to a Supreme Court judgment which mandated INEC to conduct a fresh delineation of the wards and polling units in Warri Federal Constituency.
The controversy previously reached the Presidency on June 11, 2026, when President Bola Tinubu convened a peace meeting at the Presidential Villa in Abuja alongside Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu, and seven representatives each from the Itsekiri, Ijaw, and Urhobo communities, as reported by The Eagle Online. Itsekiri leader Chief Ayirimi Emami accused INEC Chairman Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan of trying to blackmail President Tinubu into backtracking on his intervention regarding the nomenclature of three controversial wards in the GRA, Pessu, and Dore Market axis of Warri South Local Government Area.
Concurrently, lawyer and politician Chief Robinson Ariyo petitioned President Bola Tinubu to launch an independent investigation into the exercise, citing potential financial inducements, procedural irregularities, and security compromises. Writing in Vanguard News and Tribune Online, Ariyo questioned whether INEC possesses the statutory authority under Sections 112 to 115 of the 1999 Constitution to alter state constituency boundaries without National Assembly approval and before the expiration of the current life of the relevant State House of Assembly.
