Warri Federal Constituency; Delta Govt Justifies Fresh Re-Delineation
The Delta State government has said that the discrepancies discovered in Warri federal Constituency after the conduct of the 1999 general elections led to the fresh delineation of wards and polling units by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC )as directed by the Supreme Court.
The Warri South , Warri South West , Warri North have been an object of contention amongst the predominantly Urhobos , Itsekiris and Ijaws who are indigenes of Warri Federal Constituency.
State Commissioner for Work (Rural) and public Communication Charles Aniagwu made the clarification in an interview with Arise Television held over the weekend “to clarify the need for INEC to carry out the fresh re-delineation”
Aniagwu maintained that the three ethnic groups have lived together harmoniously over the years ,” they are not settlers ,as they are all stakeholders. The new direction is compliance with the Supreme Court judgement”.
He further clarified that Warri is not only for the itsekiri, but also the Urhobos and Ijaws who have been joint residents living together over years.
The re- delineation ordered by the Supreme Court he added was to address the imbalances noticed in the previous decisions after some persons went to court to seek justice.
The development directing INEC to do the needful is for the purpose of equity and justice.
“Some groups have already benefited from the previous imbalances, hence the protest and upheaval , but the government saw the need to do the needful for a permanent solution and equity to avoid undue advantage to any group”, he stated .
Aniagwu said the current protests by the Itserkiris was to kick against the decision of INEC on the new development.
He assured the warring factions of the Urhobos, Ijaws and Itsekiris to continue to live in peace and stability, as INEC is duty bound to do the needed arrangements.
