Leaders from Warri Federal Constituency staged a protest on Tuesday at the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Abuja.
The Warri Federal Constituency Leaders are emanding that the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise be stopped.
The protesters, who carried placards with inscriptions such as “Warri Federal Constituency, no ward, no units for CVR,” “INEC give us the final report,” among others,” accused the electoral body of sidelining their communities in the registration process.
They also displayed a large banner showing a map of Ijaw and Itsekiri communities in Warri South Local Government Area of Delta State.
According to the group, INEC is conducting voter registration in Warri Federal Constituency without first implementing the Supreme Court’s 2022 judgment, which ordered a proper delineation of wards and polling units in Warri North, Warri South, and Warri South West local government areas.
They argued that the delay in releasing and enforcing the delineation report had denied them their constitutional right to register and participate in elections.
In a petition submitted to INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, and signed by 16 representatives, the leaders warned that any registration carried out without valid electoral structures was illegal and violated the Supreme Court’s ruling.
“We can no longer wait while our democratic rights, guaranteed by the constitution and reaffirmed by the Supreme Court judgment, are being eroded.
“INEC should immediately release and implement the report painstakingly embarked upon by stakeholders.
“We shall not idly stand by and watch our democratic rights and franchise fretted away,” the petition read in part.
The petition also accused unnamed interests of trying to derail the process, saying that despite INEC’s earlier effort to present the proposed wards and polling units, the commission had failed to conclude the exercise before starting fresh voter registration.
“We are fully abreast with the legal attempts and undue influences from various quarters to derail or truncate the process. It was your resilience and resolved determination that made it possible for the proposed registration area /wards and units to be publicly presented.
“It is this shared determination and resolve to do the right thing that has kept us patiently for the past five months, hoping that you will conclude the process before commencing a future electoral process through the instrumentality of the ongoing Voters’ Registration exercise in the Warri Federal Constituency, which is an affront to the judiciary.
“We decided to travel from Warri Federal constituency to draw your attention to our plight and to let you know that we will not allow any institutions or external influences and pressures to allow our inalienable rights to be petered away by those bent on confusing Warri Federal Consistency, Niger Delta Region, and by extension Nigeria.
“We will continue to occupy your premises until our fundamental human rights to vote and be voted for are restored to us with a clear direction and information on where and how we should participate in the ongoing exercise,” the petition stated.
KanyiDaily recalls that the INEC recently kicked off a fresh round of nationwide voter registration ahead of the 2027 general elections.
