INEC’s Suppressed Constituencies Restoration: Delta’s seat that never came back

By Egufe Yafugborhi

Ughelli South Local Government Area, Delta State, should have been basking in euphoria as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) restored suppressed state constituencies.

Of the 22 restored seats announced on 10 June by the Commission, alongside Benue, Jigawa and Kogi, Delta got six seats back: Aniocha North II, Ika North East II, Sapele II, Ethiope West II, Warri South West II, and Warri North II. “Democracy is expanding,” INEC said.

Painfully, in Ughelli South LGA, no drums were rolled out. Constituents were left with one bitter question: “If INEC can obey 2026 court orders in days, why has it ignored a 2015 Court of Appeal judgment bearing our name for 11 years?”

Ughelli South II was not on the list for restoration. Yet a decade earlier, the locality had won the same legal battle on the same grounds that compelled INEC to restore other seats. That is the wound. The intrigue.