Home Breaking News BREAKING: INEC Clears the Air on Proposed Ward Delineation in Warri Federal Constituency
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BREAKING: INEC Clears the Air on Proposed Ward Delineation in Warri Federal Constituency

Against its earlier stance, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has extended the deadline for the conduct of primaries by political parties. The commission made the adjustments on Friday after a meeting with Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), an umbrella body for the 18 registered political parties in Nigeria. The deadline has been postponed till June 9, an extension by six days from June 3 it earlier fixed for the activities. Before the latest development, the IPAC had requested for an extension of the deadline by at least 37 days more, a move the INEC on at least three different fora opposed. “I hereby reiterate the position of the Commission that there will be no review of the timelines. There are so many inter-related activities that are associated with the timelines which must be carried out. “Any review to extend the timeline for one activity will affect other activities and put unnecessary pressure on political parties and the Commission. This will ultimately result in more complications than what the extension seeks to achieve. Therefore, the Commission will not review the timelines,” the INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, reiterated two weeks ago. However, bowing to pressure from the party, Mr Yakubu, in a statement released on Friday night, said an extension of the date would not hurt its schedule of activities. As explained by the chairman, the newly approved six-day extension will afford the parties to conclude outstanding primaries and prepare the list of candidates and upload their affidavits on the commission’s portal. He said the extension covers political parties who have not conducted their primaries. “However, based on the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2023 General Election, the parties have now pleaded with the Commission to use the 6 days between 4th and 9th June 2022 to conclude outstanding primaries and prepare to upload the list of candidates and their affidavits on the INEC Candidates Nomination Portal. The Commission did not schedule any specific activity during this period. The idea is to simply give parties time to compile the list and personal particulars of their nominated candidates before uploading the same to the INEC Candidates Nomination Portal from 10th – 17th June 2022. “The Commission has decided to allow the request of the political parties since the six-day period does not conflict with the next scheduled activity which is the submission of the list of nominated candidates or any of the subsequent timelines which remain sacrosanct. However, this request is granted in respect of outstanding primaries only without prejudice to those already concluded by political parties. The Commission will not monitor already concluded primaries,” Mr Yakubu explained. He noted some political parties’ reluctance to submit their nominees for the training on the use of the INEC portal despite the commission’s provision to train four officials from each of the 18 political parties for the same purpose

By Best Olowo

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has debunked the widespread misconceptions surrounding the proposed delineation of wards in Warri North, Warri South, and Warri South West Federal Constituency, clarifying that no final decision has been made on the matter.

In a press statement issued today, Thursday, April 10, 2025, INEC affirmed that the process stems from the Supreme Court judgment of December 2, 2022, and has involved extensive consultations and fieldwork across the affected LGAs between February 2023 and July 2024.

Further stakeholder engagement was held in Warri on Friday, April 4, 2025, where parties received the draft report and were encouraged to provide feedback.

INEC emphasizes that the draft report is not final and calls on all stakeholders to submit their observations to guide the next phase of engagement.

Full statement below:

MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT THE PROPOSED DELINEATION OF WARDS IN THE WARRI FEDERAL CONSITUENCY BY ORDER OF THE SUPREME COURT

Our attention has been drawn to the misleading narratives about the proposed delineation of Wards in Warri North, Warri South and Warri South West Federal Constituency as ordered by the Supreme Court in its judgement delivered on 2nd December 2022.

Following the Supreme Court judgement, the Commission embarked on extensive consultations from February 2023 to July 2024 involving all the critical stakeholders, followed by fieldwork in all the communities in the three Local Government Areas culminating in the production of a draft report.

The Commission held further consultation with stakeholders in Warri last week on Friday 4th April 2025, where copies of the draft report were presented to the representatives of each of the parties connected with the issue. The purpose was to give them the opportunity to raise any concerns they might have. The overall objective was to arrive at an amicable agreement endorsed by all the parties involved.

Therefore, contrary to the speculations making the rounds, the Commission is yet to take a final decision on the delineation of Wards in the Warri Federal Constituency.

We urge representatives of the various stakeholders to submit their obesrvations on the draft report which will serve as the basis for further engagement on the matter.

Meanwhile, we appeal to all stakeholders in the constituency to refrain from engaging in any activity that could threaten the peace and security of the area. The Commission will continue to operate based on fairness, equity, the rule of law and in full consultation with all stakeholders.

Sam Olumekun mni
National Commissioner and Chairman, Information & Voter Education Committee
Thursday 10th April 2025

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