UGHELLI/Nigeria: The restoration of the Ughelli South II State Constituency has been welcomed by political and community stakeholders in Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State as an important step towards restoring direct legislative representation to communities that have operated under a single constituency arrangement for years.
The development follows the Independent National Electoral Commission’s commencement of the process to implement the court judgment restoring Ughelli South II, alongside Abraka and Isoko North II in Delta State. At a stakeholders’ engagement in Asaba on July 31, INEC said technical work had begun to establish the relevant boundaries and other details required for the restoration.
The return of the constituency has also prompted commendation for individuals and groups who have advocated its restoration, with the Coordinator of the Niger Delta Peace Coalition, Zik Gbemre, specifically acknowledging Senator Ede Dafinone, representing Delta Central Senatorial District.
Gbemre said Dafinone had supported the campaign for the restoration of the constituency, including through what he described as financial and other forms of assistance.
“Ughelli South has Senator Ede Dafinone to thank for championing the cause with connection and financial support before anyone else,” Gbemre said.
Former Leader of the Ughelli South Local Government Legislature, Chief Sunny Apah, also recognised the contributions of other stakeholders, including Chief John Oguma, Hon. Francis Waive, member representing Ughelli South/Udu Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, and the Chairman of Ughelli South Local Government Area, Dr. Lucky Avweromre.
Apah said the restoration reflected the collective efforts of people who had continued to draw attention to the need for a separate constituency for the affected communities.
The development has also attracted political reactions across the local government.
APC chieftain, Olorogun Adelabu Bodjor, described the restoration as a relief to residents, saying it had addressed what he regarded as a longstanding representational imbalance.
He commended the Ughelli South political class and Dafinone for their efforts and expressed the hope that the eventual electoral process would produce representatives capable of effectively articulating the interests of the constituency.
The incumbent member representing Ughelli South State Constituency, Hon. Festus Utuama, also welcomed the development, saying the return of a second constituency would distribute the legislative responsibility that had previously been concentrated in one seat.
“The restoration of our Second Constituency is indeed welcome news to our people. A burden previously carried by one representative will now be shared by two and there can be no better relief than this,” Utuama said.
The restoration has its roots in a long-running legal and constitutional dispute over the suppression of one of Ughelli South’s previously existing constituencies. Earlier reports on the matter indicate that court proceedings dating back to 2014 and subsequent appellate decisions challenged the suppression and sought restoration of the constituency.
INEC’s current implementation process is therefore significant beyond the immediate political calculations. It is intended to translate the judicial decisions on the constituency into an operational electoral structure, including the delineation and identification of the relevant areas.
At the July 31 stakeholders’ meeting, INEC Delta said a technical team had been constituted to determine the GPS coordinates and other boundary details of the affected constituencies as part of the implementation process.
For Ughelli South stakeholders, the significance of the restoration lies principally in the prospect of giving the affected communities their own voice in the Delta State House of Assembly rather than having their interests represented within a single constituency covering the entire local government.
While political parties and prospective aspirants are expected to turn their attention to the eventual electoral contest, the immediate task remains the completion of the administrative processes required to operationalise the restored constituency.
The restoration consequently represents more than the creation of another political contest. For communities in Ughelli South II, it is being viewed as the return of a distinct channel for legislative representation after years of campaigning and legal efforts to reverse the earlier suppression.
