Ijaw ethnic nationality in Warri, Delta, have urged Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to go ahead with the delineation of wards in Warri Federal Constituency, as ordered by the Supreme Court.
The Ijaw indigenes, at a peaceful rally which ended at INEC headquarters in Abuja on Thursday, commended INEC for not jettison the apex court judgment delivered since 2022.
Spokesperson for the group, Chief David Reje, commended INEC for carrying all communities and stakeholders in the constituency along.
He said that they were surprised that some people were saying INEC never consulted some stakeholders in the constituency over the exercise.
Reje said that the commission should be commended for committing itself to inclusivity, the rule of law and the principles of good governance.
“INEC has really taken it upon itself to engage all the stakeholders of the nationalities of the Ijaws, the Itsekiris, and the Urhobos.
“You formed a committee, you went down, you were engaging them differently, and they were heavily represented by their leaders and their traditional rulers.
“At the end of it, INEC made out time to go to the communities of all the nationalities of the Itsekiri, the Ijaws and the Urhobos.
“And by your fieldwork, you have been able to come out with a proposed document somehow, a proposed report.
“We found out that some people are trying to become funny, as if they were not involved in the whole process.
“We were all involved in the whole process, in Warri, in Asaba, and in everything. And everybody has given their assent to the process to be carried out,’’ he said.
He urged INEC to implement its report and recommendations, saying gone are the days when wards were allocated.
“Today, wards are given through diligent ward delineation process, which is first of all carried out.
“So we have come to appreciate you and to let the public know that you never did any job in the classroom, or in the bedroom, or in the room, the private room.
“It was a public work, a public assignment, demonstrated by mostly going through the creeks, or the nooks and crannies of the three areas,’’ he said.
Reje urged all stakeholders in the constituency to cooperate with INEC in carrying out the exercise.
“Let’s work together as Nigerians, as brothers and sisters in a federal constituency to make sure that we build an environment that is politically endowed with the beauty of political democracy and freedom,” he said.
Addressing the protesters, INEC National Commissioner, Prof. Abdullahi Zuru, pledged that INEC would continue to do the right thing.
“We want to thank you most sincerely for coming here as one of the major stakeholders in this discussion. Thank you for appreciating what the commission has done so far.
“We want to assure you that as a commission, we are dedicated to doing what is right as far as democracy in Nigeria is concerned.
“God willing, we will ensure that democracy, at the end of the day, is what decides everything that we do,” Zuru said.
Also present was National Commissioner, Malam Mohammed Haruna, and other INEC management staff.
