A storm is brewing in the Niger Delta, as the Ijaw People’s Development Initiative (IPDI) has accused President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and First Lady Remi Tinubu of attempting to manipulate the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) Warri federal constituency delineation report to favour the Itsekiri ethnic group, sparking outrage and threats of violent resistance.
In a bombshell statement issued on Tuesday and signed by the IPDI’s National President, Comrade Ozobo Austin, the group accused the Tinubus of “usurping the constitutional functions of INEC” and orchestrating a clandestine plot to reconfigure the Warri constituency boundaries, undermining the numerical and political dominance of the Ijaw and Urhobo people.
“This is a dangerous, deliberate plan to subjugate the Ijaw and Urhobo people using the powers of the Presidency,” the statement said. “Remi Tinubu, an Itsekiri woman, is using her proximity to power to alter INEC’s work in favour of her ethnic group. This is a declaration of war.”
According to the IPDI, the delineation matter was initially under the supervision of the National Security Adviser (NSA) before it was quietly transferred to the office of the Chief of Staff, whom the group described as “a complete Yoruba man loyal to the President” allegedly to facilitate ethnic favoritism and rewrite an already released INEC report.
The group described the move as “an assault on democracy, equity, and federal character,” adding that the Ijaw people will not tolerate it.
“We will resist this injustice with the last drop of our blood,” Comrade Ozobo declared. “If Tinubu dares to go ahead with this treacherous move, we will shut down every oil facility in the Niger Delta. Let the nation burn if our rights must be traded for ethnic greed.”
Calling the act a “presidential conspiracy to erase Ijaw influence in Warri,” the IPDI warned that the consequences would be dire.
“Let it be known that if this plot is not reversed, Warri will be ungovernable. We will make sure of that. And if the Itsekiri people believe they can wipe us out using state power, we will defend our land by any means necessary. This is not a threat; it is a promise.”
The group called on former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Goodluck Jonathan, and Abdulsalami Abubakar to urgently intervene and “call Tinubu and his wife to order before they plunge the Niger Delta into chaos.” They also urged the National Boundary Commission to reclaim its constitutional duty and stop what they described as “executive interference in electoral geography.”
IPDI further appealed to the international community and human rights observers to pay close attention to the unfolding crisis in Warri, warning that “ethnic cleansing” is being disguised as administrative adjustment.
“This is no longer about boundary lines. This is about ethnic domination. We see the signs, and we will not go down quietly.”
As tensions escalate, fears of a major breakdown in regional peace and a potential shutdown of Nigeria’s critical oil infrastructure loom large. No response has yet been issued by the Presidency or INEC at the time of filing this report.
