Rt, Hon Sheriff Oborevwori, Governor of Delta State.
- Itsekiri cry wolf
- Fresh conflict between Itsekirir and Urhobo brews
By John Egie
Conflict is brewing between Itsekiri nation and their Urhobo neighbours over delineation of electoral wards in Warri federal Constituency.
The Itsekiri are crying wolf over the proposal of electoral boundaries redrawn by INEC in compliance with a Supreme Court Judgment.
The INEC declaration exposes the true demographic structure of the three ethnic groups in Warri namely Urhobo, Itsekiri and Ijaw.
For over 76 years Itsekiri had been claiming dominance over the other two ethnic groups and the assertion had provided political advantage to the Itsekiri.
But with the recent delineation by INEC the redrawn boundaries topple the previous arrangement in favour of the Urhobo and Ijaw.
The new boundaries drawn by INEC, in Warri North comprising of 18 wards, Ijaw has 10, Itsekiri (8).
In Warri South West comprising of 19 wards, Ijaw has 15, Itsekiri (4).
In Warri South comprising of 20 wards, Ijaw has 3 wards, Itsekiri (8) and Urhobo (9).
Faced by this reality, which has changed the balance of power, Itsekiri are crying wolf.
Shortly after declaration of the delineation by INEC, Iyara community in Okere clan, an enclave of Urhobo people in Warri was attacked by yet to be identified persons. Indigenes of the community allege that the attack was sponsored and executed by persons who are aggrieved over the new electoral wards boundaries redrawn by INEC. They accuse the Chairman of Warri South Local Government Council, Comrade Agbateyiniro Weyinimi Isaac of complicity to the attack noting his refusal to respond to the security threat to the Urhobo people and therefore called on Governor Sheriff Oborevwori to sanction him.
Itsekiri youths under the aegis of Itsekiri Youths Elites (IYE) in official reaction to the development accused the Urhobo of planning to remove the Itsekiri born Warri South Local Government Council Chairman and replacing him with the Urhobo born vice chairman, Hon Kingsley Edafiadjebre.
In a statement issued by Comrade Lily-White Esigbone, President of IYE, the Itsekiri youths also accused the duo of the vice chairman and the leader of Warri South legislative house of supporting the plot to remove the council chairman.
They went further to accuse the State Governor, Sheriff Oborevwori of bias against the Itsekiri people during the delineation process.
The redrawn electoral wards boundaries in Warri South obviously gives political dominance to the Urhobo, a reality the Itsekiri youths do not want to savour and hence they are vexed and have not only approached the court to relitigate over the matter but have went in protest to INEC Headquarters in Abuja to reject the proposal and to warn that they would resist implementation of the redrawn electoral wards boundaries with the last drop of their blood.
They also called in President Bola Tinubu to come to their rescue. Senator Oluremi Tinubu, wife of the president is an Itsekiri woman.
Ambrose Ologide, a Warri based journalist responding to our inquiry said the Itsekiri are crying wolf where there is none. Asked if he saw the Itsekiri as being oppressed by the INEC declaration of the redrawn electoral wards boundaries, he said for decades past the Itsekiri have oppressed the Urhobo people by using fake data to mislead the authorities and claiming dominance in Warri Federal Constituency but that the INEC redrawn boundaries have placed Itsekiri in it’s true demographic position. Ologide wondered why Itsekiri youths are agitated over the INEC declaration which was signed by representatives of all ethnic groups in Warri. He warned that the city of Warri is sitting on a keg of gun powder should the redrawn electoral ward boundaries delineated by INEC suffer any alteration.
Also responding to our inquiry, media consultant to Chief Government Oweizide Ekpemupolo alias Tompolo the undisputed supreme commander of the Ijaw nation said the redrawn electoral wards boundaries as declared by INEC has exposed the many lies of the Itsekiri people over the years as their true population size has been revealed.
In his submission on the only way out of the age old crisis, Dr Ejiro Imuere, a researcher, called for a visit to the argument presented by Mr Eric Omare an Ijaw legal luminary before the Supreme Court saying the data provided by Omare guided the Supreme Court judgment which decision is in correspondence with INEC declaration.
He said Eric Omare submitted facts and figures to the Supreme Court during the almost ten years of litigation on the matter for which he got judgment.
“In that Judgment Eric Omare listed all the Itsekiri, Urhobo and Ijaw Communities in the 3 Warri LGA.
He obtained their Populations from the National Population Commission, and tried to tally the previous delineations to these facts and the tally made no sense at all. INEC made a defense to counter him but INEC figures were averse to the figures of the National Population Commission.
National Population Commission showed that Ijaws had villages in Warri South LGA, yet INEC didn’t give them a ward at all, meaning they have all along been disenfranchised.
So if the National Population Commission starting from 1929 census down to 1991 consistently identified Ogbe Ijoh villages in and around Warri GRA, with a fairly large Population, then why did the 1997 and 2002 INEC Ward delineations not make any references to their existence and wards he said and rhetorted if that was not fraudulent.
Eric Omare at last got victory. The Supreme Court declared all these previous delineations of both 1997 and 2002 as fraudulent and ordered INEC to do fresh wards delineation.
Dr Imuero said INEC only worked with the facts and figures Eric Omare gave to the Supreme Court that guided the apex court’s decision in the matter.
INEC was only a messenger subconsciously programmed with the facts and figures Eric Omare gave the Supreme Court which bust the over 76 years of fraud perpetrated by Itsekiri on their neighbours.
Omare was able to prove that many Itsekiri villages with up to a voting strength of 300 people in a unit, don’t even exist….that sometimes three different wards are all different voting units in one Primary school in Warri North LGA.
He advised Itsekiri youths and others who are protesting over the INEC declaration on electoral wards delineation in Warri Federal Constituency to stop forthwith and remember that once INEC has declared INEC can no longer undeclared, only the tribunal can do that.
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