The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has suspended all activities related to delineating electoral wards in the Warri Federal Constituency of Delta State.

Naijaonpoint reports that INEC’s Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Victoria Eta-Messi, confirmed the development on Saturday, disclosing that the matter has been escalated to the Office of the National Security Adviser.

“This matter was brought to the attention of the NSA. So, at the moment, we cannot take any further action,” Eta-Messi noted in a statement made available to newsmen.

Eta-Messi, however, noted that the suspension of ward delineation would not affect the Continuous Voter Registration exercise in the constituency.

“CVR is ongoing in the constituency, using the existing PUs (polling units) and RAs (registration areas),” she told The PUNCH.

The development came just weeks after a peaceful protest by members of the Urhobo and Ijaw communities from Warri North, Warri South, and Warri South-West Local Government Areas.

On September 9, the protesters stormed INEC’s headquarters in Abuja to demand immediate implementation of a 2022 Supreme Court judgment mandating a fresh delineation of electoral wards in Warri.

During the protest, community representatives submitted a petition addressed to INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, warning that conducting voter registration without implementing the court-ordered delineation was unconstitutional.

“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.

Supreme Court Judgment of 2022

The Supreme Court, in its ruling delivered on December 2, 2022, had declared the existing ward delineation in Warri outdated and unrepresentative of the constituency’s population.

It directed INEC to carry out a comprehensive re-delineation of electoral wards.

Following the ruling, INEC commenced consultations in early 2023, with fieldwork concluding in July 2024.

A draft report was later presented to stakeholders at a public forum in Warri on April 4, 2025.

In a statement issued on April 10, INEC clarified that no final decision had been reached on the delineation exercise and invited stakeholders to submit feedback on the draft report.

Meanwhile, online voter registration commenced on August 18, while physical registration began on August 25, even as communities insist on fully implementing the Supreme Court order.