The lawyer representing a stakeholder group in the Warri delineation process, Eric Omare, has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately commence implementation of its delineation report, insisting that multiple court rulings have left the commission with no reason whatsoever to delay the exercise.
Speaking in an interview with ARISE NEWD on Saturday, Omare said the electoral body is under a legal obligation to act on the report it presented to stakeholders in May 2026, arguing that continued delay amounts to disregard for judicial pronouncements and statutory responsibility. “So, what is now holding back INEC? It is simply lack of respect for the rule of law. INEC has no reason whatsoever not to start the implementation of his report that he submitted on the 20th of May to stakeholders.”
Omare argued that INEC had already fulfilled its consultative obligations, noting that stakeholders had made inputs before the final report was issued in May 2026. “Now, people have made their representation and INEC, based on their representation, came up with a report of 20th May 2026. For how long are we going to have proposals?”
He stressed that the commission had no legal basis to continue treating the exercise as ongoing negotiations. “And INEC in their meeting with stakeholders did not tell us that it is a further proposal. So it doesn’t lie in the mouth of one stakeholder to say, especially those who were not in the meeting, to say that it was a proposal.”
He insisted that the Supreme Court’s pronouncements and subsequent Federal High Court rulings had clarified INEC’s obligations, saying the commission is bound to conclude the process ahead of the 2027 general elections.
“By Section 287 of the Constitution of Nigeria, once the Supreme Court has spoken, no other authority has any right to say anything whatsoever.”
Omare referenced additional court judgments which, according to him, directed INEC to proceed with the delineation without waiting for further consent from stakeholders. “So, what is now holding back INEC? It is simply lack of respect for the rule of law.”
He added that the creation of new constituencies and electoral adjustments arising from the exercise required immediate implementation. “By reason of that state creation of additional constituencies, there ought to be primary election for political parties to nominate candidates that will conduct that contest in those constituencies. INEC has not given that directive. What is INEC waiting for? There is continual voter registration that is going on. Those new elected polling units that were created, people from those places also have started the registration. INEC has also not given that directive.“
Omare also dismissed allegations of technical errors in the delineation coordinates, describing them as misplaced criticisms that did not invalidate the report. “These are just excuses to try to discredit what INEC did.”
On claims of corruption raised by some stakeholders, Omare said such allegations were unproven and should Mnot be used to halt implementation of a court-backed process.
“They are just allegations just to discredit the report. Mind you, they have gone to court more than eight times to stop this delineation.”
He maintained that resistance from some parties was part of a long-standing political struggle over representation in the Warri area. “For us, that is not strange. It is accepted. In apartheid South Africa, the white minorities did not give up easily. They fought. In Warri, for example, the issue before the Supreme Court judgment was minority rule over majority. That’s the issue in Warri. The minority that has been ruling over the majority want to continue to maintain their status. So that’s the issue in Warri.”
Omare called for immediate implementation of the report. “So, we call on INEC to, as a matter of urgency, start the immediate implementation of its 20th of May 2026 report presented in Asaba.”
Erizia Rubyjeana
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