Oil Producing Communities of Ogbe-Ijoh Kingdom, Delta State, have called for the removal of three National Commissioners in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) alleged to be actively influencing the ongoing delineation process for Warri Federal Constituency.

Leaders of the communities at the press conference on Sunday, alleged that a ‘cabal of commissioners’ within INEC are serving their own interests and undermining efforts for fair representation in Warri wards allocation.

In a press statement reads at Tekedor/Kusimi also known as Egwa 11 community, Warri South West LGA, and signed by Deacon Clement Tekedor, Chief Samson Oyimi, Emmanuel Kusimi and Hon. Johnbull Aniyanghan, the Ogbe-Ijoh leaders allegedly accused the “cabal” of INEC commissioners of hijacking the process, disregarding official data and reports, and deliberately misallocating electoral wards in favour of certain political or economic interests.

“There is a group of commissioners who have taken control of the delineation process. They are deliberately ignoring NPC population data and actual field reports, instead relying on manipulated figures to allocate wards”, they said.

The statement further alleged that these commissioners have dismissed the findings of INEC officials who conducted fieldwork in July 2024, which indicated that Ogbe-Ijoh Kingdom, home to the Ajuju/Batan, Odidi 1 and Odidi 11, Egwa 11 oil fields and flow stations, Ikeremor manifold as well as Ugbanabubou oil field and a large population, deserved more electoral wards than the two allocated so far out of nineteen.

“They are insisting on allocating registration areas without reference to the actual data, even adding fictitious communities to justify their decisions,” they claimed.

“This is part of a deliberate attempt to marginalize Ogbe-Ijoh and other communities that threaten their influence.”

The leaders disclosed that they have it on good records that the commissioners have employed intimidation tactics against INEC staff who oppose their plans, including threats of sack, punitive postings, and even manipulating reports to favor their preferred boundaries.

“These National Commissioners have used all sorts of intimidatory tactics against INEC workers with knowledge of the actual population records and field work, including threat of sack, punitive posting outside the INEC National Headquarters, bullying and doctoring of the actual field work and reports, addition of hundreds of fictitious communities in some parts of the Warri South West LGA, all in a bid to frustrate and undermine Ogbe-Ijoh Kingdom.

They said that the commissioners are acting against the spirit of the law and the Supreme Court’s order for a fresh delineation, adding that their actions threaten the integrity of the process and could lead to unrest in oil-producing communities.

They called for the removal of the implicated commissioners, stating, “The chairman of INEC must intervene and remove those hijacking the process, ensuring that the delineation reflects accurate data and complies with legal standards.”

The statement further reads: “It is sad to note that, what the INEC National Commissioners are currently doing in the ongoing Supreme Court ordered fresh delineation against the Ogbe-Ijoh people in Warri South West LGA is worse than what existed before the judgment.

“It is surprising to the Ogbe-Ijoh Kingdom oil Producing Communities that public officers who are supposed to be beacon of accountability are now doing the bidding of interested persons to undermine the integrity of INEC and the ongoing fresh delineation. Consequently, we demand as follows:

“We again call on the Chairman of INEC to save the Ogbe-Ijoh people from the oppression of his National Commissioners, who have hijacked the fresh delineation of Warri Federal Constituency.

“They should remove their knees from the neck of the Ogbe-Ijoh people and allow us breath by allowing the NPC population/settlements data and actual field work to be used for the fresh delineation in Warri South West LGA.

“The Chairman of INEC is also called upon to take away the process of review of complaints arising from the interim report from these cabal of National Commissioners who are executing their personal agenda, instead of carrying out the fresh delineation in line with the Electoral Act and the INEC Guidelines on the fresh delineation, NPC data and the actual field report.

“The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Ahmed Bola Tinubu and the office of the National Security Adviser should hold the INEC National Commissioners coordinating the fresh delineation of Warri Federal Constituency responsible for any disruption to oil and gas activities in Ogbe-Ijoh Kingdom, which is imminent, if the injustice against us is not addressed”.