The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has thrown its weight behind the indigenous Ijaw and Urhobo people of Warri Federal Constituency, strongly condemning what it described as the deliberate and illegal attempts by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to subvert the Supreme Court’s clear and binding judgement on the fresh delineation of electoral wards and units in the constituency.
In a statement issued in Abuja, the civil rights advocacy group said it fully aligns with the grievances raised by the Ijaw and Urhobo communities at their world press conference, stressing that INEC’s current actions amount to outright contempt of court, a mockery of the rule of law, and a calculated assault on democracy.
HURIWA argued that the refusal or failure of the electoral body to implement the Supreme Court’s judgement of December 2, 2022, is not only reckless but a dangerous signal of institutional lawlessness that undermines the integrity of Nigeria’s democracy, reports Daily Independent.
The group recalled that the apex court, after carefully reviewing the history of gerrymandering and electoral manipulation in Warri Federal Constituency, ordered INEC to conduct a fresh delineation of all wards and polling units in Warri South, Warri South-West, and Warri North local government areas.
The judgement arose from long-standing complaints of fictitious wards, inequitable distribution of polling units, and gross irregularities that tilted the balance of representation against the indigenous Ijaw and Urhobo people. HURIWA noted that the Supreme Court’s order was clear and unambiguous: the old electoral structures stood void, and fresh delineation was the only legal basis for credible elections in the area.
According to HURIWA, it is criminal, unconstitutional, and contemptuous of INEC to proceed with the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) in Warri Federal Constituency without first concluding and publishing the delineation report mandated by the Supreme Court.
The association reiterated the principle famously captured by Lord Denning in UAC vs McToy (1963) that “you cannot put something on nothing and expect it to stand,” insisting that any voter registration or electoral process carried out in Warri without fresh delineation is null and void.
The association reminded Nigerians that the history of Warri’s electoral disputes dates back to the late 1990s when INEC itself, in its post-election assessment report of 1999, admitted to grave irregularities in the delineation process.
INEC openly acknowledged that previous exercises did not follow relevant laws and guidelines and were skewed to serve selfish interests.
It further admitted that in Warri South-West and other affected local government areas across Nigeria, delineation was either never properly done or was done fraudulently, thereby sowing the seeds of distrust and crises that erupted in Warri between 1997 and 2003.
HURIWA lamented that more than two decades later, INEC appears unwilling to correct its past mistakes, thereby deepening the historical wounds of marginalisation and injustice against the Ijaw and Urhobo peoples. The group emphasised that the indigenous people of Warri have shown extraordinary patience by seeking judicial remedies rather than resorting to violence, and that INEC’s disregard of the Supreme Court order is tantamount to provoking fresh tensions in a region that has paid a heavy price for peace.
The association noted that despite convening stakeholder meetings with representatives of the affected communities in 2023 and 2025, and even producing a draft report on the fresh delineation exercise, INEC has failed to publish or implement the final report. Instead, it has chosen to proceed with voter registration in a constituency where the legal framework for wards and polling units no longer exists.
HURIWA described this as a deliberate conspiracy to disenfranchise indigenous groups, entrench electoral fraud, and undermine confidence in Nigeria’s electoral process.
Endorsing the demands made by the Ijaw and Urhobo people, HURIWA called on INEC to immediately release and implement the delineation report, warning that any further delay constitutes an affront to the Supreme Court and a grave violation of the democratic rights of Nigerians in Warri Federal Constituency.
The group stressed that democracy cannot thrive where institutions established to protect it become complicit in lawlessness and electoral manipulation.
HURIWA further urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the National Assembly, and the judiciary to compel INEC to obey the Supreme Court order without further delay. It cautioned that Nigeria cannot afford to build its electoral future on illegality, manipulation, and contempt of judicial authority. According to the association, to allow INEC to continue on its present path is to signal to the world that Nigeria has no respect for the sanctity of court orders, and that elections in the country are conducted on the whims of powerful interests rather than the rule of law.
The association also appealed to civil society organisations, religious leaders, the international community, and all advocates of democracy to rally behind the indigenous people of Warri in their quest for justice. HURIWA affirmed that the fight of the Ijaw and Urhobo people is not just local but a litmus test for Nigeria’s democracy, because if INEC can brazenly ignore a Supreme Court order in Warri, it can do the same anywhere else in the country.
Concluding, HURIWA declared that it will continue to monitor the situation closely and will not hesitate to join in mobilising public pressure and legal action to hold INEC accountable.
The association maintained that obedience to court orders is the bedrock of democracy and justice, and anything less amounts to dictatorship and impunity under another name.
It vowed that it stands shoulder to shoulder with the Ijaw and Urhobo peoples in their demand for justice, fairness, and equal representation.
