Omadino Community Accuses INEC of Ignoring Court Judgments in Ward Delineation

The Omadino Community in Delta State has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of willfully disregarding multiple Supreme Court judgments in its recently proposed delineation of electoral wards in the Warri Federal Constituency.

At a press conference on Monday, leaders of the Itsekiri-majority community condemned INEC’s April 4 proposal, calling it a “brazen violation of the rule of law” and an attempt to undermine longstanding judicial rulings that protect Warri land and political representation.

While INEC claims to be acting under the directive of a 2022 Supreme Court order mandating a fresh delineation exercise in Warri North, Warri South, and Warri South West LGAs, Omadino leaders argue that the commission is selectively applying the ruling ignoring earlier, binding judgments that affirmed the rights of the Warri people over key disputed territories.

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“This is not just administrative oversight; it is calculated disobedience to court orders,” said Chief Priest Roland Yomere, speaking on behalf of the community. “INEC cannot use a single Supreme Court order as a pretext to disregard multiple previous court judgements, some even from the same apex court, which favour Omadino and the wider Itsekiri people,” said Chief Priest Roland Yomere, who spoke on behalf of the community.

The community referenced a 2003 Federal High Court judgement that recognised the Itsekiri’s rightful ward structure in Warri South LGA, a ruling that has yet to be implemented by INEC.

A central grievance lies in INEC’s proposed creation of “Okerenkoko Ward,” a name the community says has been declared illegitimate by the Supreme Court in the landmark case James Uluba & Ors vs Chief E. E. Sillo & Ors (1972). The ruling affirmed that the correct name of the territory is Okerenghigho, belonging to the Omadino people, and recognized the Ijaw settlers in the area as customary tenants.

“To now rename that land and assign it to the Gbaramatu people is not just illegal, it is contemptuous of the very court order INEC claims to be implementing,” Yomere stated.

Yomere added that new wards such as Egwa and Ewein were allegedly created on disputed lands, excluding existing Itsekiri settlements. He claimed that several Itsekiri polling units have been reassigned to predominantly Urhobo or Ijaw wards, describing the move as a “deliberate act of political re-engineering.

The community also pointed to the case Dr. Joseph Otumara & Ors v. INEC & Ors, in which the Federal High Court declared the existence of 12 electoral wards in Warri South LGA illegal, affirming the validity of only 10. Despite this ruling, Omadino leaders say INEC has never complied with the judgment and has instead used the current delineation to further entrench those irregularities.

“There is no provision in the 2022 judgment that empowers INEC to ignore prior Supreme Court rulings or to create new communities by redrawing boundaries. What we are witnessing is a systemic effort to legalize illegality,” the statement read.

INEC’s proposed delineation has also sparked outrage over what the community views as glaring inequalities in ward allocation. Omadino Ward, with over 15,000 registered voters, was allotted just one ward, while other communities with as few as 1,200 voters received separate wards. Omadino leaders argue that this imbalance further suggests a deliberate strategy to weaken Itsekiri political representation.

In response, the community is demanding that INEC halt the current process and revise the delineation in accordance with all existing court judgments. They have called on President Bola Tinubu and the National Assembly to intervene before what they describe as “a dangerous precedent of judicial disregard” undermines the legitimacy of Nigeria’s electoral system.
“INEC is not above the law,” Yomere concluded. “If court rulings can be ignored so brazenly, then the foundation of our democracy is under threat.”

INEC has yet to respond publicly to the allegations.