Effurun, December 7, 2025 – In a passionate plea that reverberated through the halls of the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI) Conference Centre, federal lawmaker Hon. Francis Waive has ignited a clarion call for political revival in Delta Central Senatorial District. Representing the Ughelli North, Ughelli South, and Udu Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Waive, also Chairman of the House Committee on Rules and Business, decried the alarming erosion of voter strength in the region, a trend he warned could relegate Urhobo nation to the margins of Delta State’s power corridors. Speaking at the Delta Central All Progressives Congress (APC) Leaders and Stakeholders Meeting, attended by over 500 party chieftains, elders, and youth leaders from the district’s 10 local government areas, Waive painted a stark picture of decline, urging an all-hands-on-deck mobilization to swell voter registers ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The PTI venue in Effurun, Uvwie Local Government Area, a bustling hub in the oil-rich Warri metropolis, served as the perfect stage for this urgent discourse. The meeting, convened under the auspices of the Delta Central APC Caucus, was not just a routine gathering but a strategic summit aimed at forging unity and charting a path to electoral dominance. Waive, a seasoned politician who has risen through the ranks from state assembly to federal legislature, wasted no time in laying bare the numbers that haunt the district’s political psyche. “Delta Central once accounted for about 60 percent of total votes in Delta State when the state was created in 1991,” he lamented, his voice steady yet laced with frustration. “Today, that figure has plummeted to a mere 30 percent, despite no wars, natural disasters, or pandemics to explain it. Something is profoundly wrong.”
Historical data underscores Waive’s alarm. Upon Delta State’s creation from the defunct Bendel State in August 1991, the Central Senatorial District, encompassing ethnic Urhobo heartlands like Ughelli, Ethiope, and Sapele, emerged as the electoral powerhouse, buoyed by its dense population, vibrant markets, and industrial base around Warri and Effurun. In the inaugural 1992 elections, the district delivered over 55% of the state’s votes, propelling candidates to key positions and cementing Urhobo influence in Asaba’s Government House and Abuja’s corridors of power. Fast-forward to the 2023 general elections, and the narrative shifted dramatically. Official Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) figures show Delta Central contributing just 28.5% of the state’s total valid votes, down from 35% in 2019, while Delta North and South surged to 32% and 39.5%, respectively. In the gubernatorial race, for instance, APC’s Ovie Omo-Agege, a son of the soil, garnered 240,828 votes from the district (36% statewide), but the overall turnout dipped to 62%, with registered voters stagnating at around 1.2 million, compared to over 1.5 million a decade prior.
Waive, his brow furrowed under the conference hall’s fluorescent lights, delved deeper into the malaise. “Some local governments that once produced over 50,000 votes in past cycles now barely scrape 20,000,” he revealed, citing examples from Ughelli North and Ethiope East, where voter apathy has intertwined with youth migration to urban centres like Lagos and Abuja. No cataclysmic event justifies this slide, he argued, no Boko Haram incursions like in the North, no floods ravaging the South, no COVID-19 lockdowns to suppress turnout. Instead, insidious factors lurk: economic disillusionment amid soaring inflation (now at 32% nationally), distrust in the electoral process after 2023 glitches, and a generational disconnect where tech-savvy youths prioritise social media over PVC collection. “If we, the current political leaders, fail to act, our population will continue to shrink,” Waive cautioned. “Another census looms in 2026, but far more pressing is the ongoing INEC voter registration exercise.”
This ties directly into INEC’s nationwide Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) drive, relaunched in August 2025 to bolster the electorate ahead of off-cycle polls and the 2027 cycle. Online pre-registration kicked off on August 18 via the INEC portal (cvr.inecnigeria.org), allowing applicants to submit biometrics remotely before in-person verification at LGA offices from August 25, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., weekdays only. In Delta State, the Delta State Independent Electoral Commission (DSIEC) has amplified calls for participation, targeting 18-plus citizens without Permanent Voter’s Cards (PVCs). By late September, over 6.2 million Nigerians had pre-registered nationwide, but Delta lagged with just 45,000, barely 2% of the state’s 2.5 million eligible pool, highlighting the urgency in Central, where only 12,000 new registrations were logged in the first month. Challenges persist: long queues at Effurun and Ughelli centres, biometric glitches, and rural inaccessibility, prompting registrants to demand more personnel.
Waive’s prescription was unyielding: a grassroots blitz. “Every young adult aged 18 and above must register,” he implored, extending the net to Urhobo indigenes in diaspora. “Even those in Lagos or Abuja should return home, your PVC is your passport to power.” He invoked a dire prophecy: inaction today brands tomorrow’s leaders as “political eunuchs,” sterile influencers bereft of electoral muscle. In Urhobo lore, where communal ethos reigns, such a slur cuts deep, evoking emasculation in the face of rivals from Delta North’s Anioma or South’s Itsekiri-Ijaw blocs.
The lawmaker demystified the math of might: “Political strength is voter numbers. Even rigging has limits, if your unit has only 100 registered, 100 is your ceiling.” This resonates amid 2023’s BVAS controversies, where low turnout amplified manipulations. Waive rallied APC faithful: “Take the campaign to every ward, unit, and community. Our presidential and gubernatorial tallies in Delta Central will dictate influence in Asaba and Abuja.” The party, he assured, is victory-bound, but without robust rolls, the district risks irrelevance, echoing its 2023 senatorial win for APC’s Ede Dafinone (109,197 votes) yet gubernatorial shortfall.
The meeting pulsed with resolve. Elder Olorogun O’tega Emerhor, APC founding father, hailed the forum as a “David slaying Goliath” moment against PDP dominance since 1999. Minister Festus Keyamo and NEXIM Bank’s Stella Okotete pledged logistics for door-to-door drives, while youth leader Paulinus Akpeki vowed digital campaigns via WhatsApp and TikTok. The communique, signed by APC Zonal Chairman Joseph Otuvwa, commits to 100,000 new registrations by December’s end, targeting women (historically 48% of voters) and rural youth.
Broader implications loom. Delta Central’s voter slump mirrors national trends: INEC’s 2025 CVR aims for 10 million additions, but apathy persists amid economic woes. For Urhobo, with 4 million ethnic kin, reclaiming numerical supremacy could tip 2027’s scales, securing the governorship zoned to Central since 2007. Waive’s words, a blend of data and dialectics, galvanised the room: from PTI’s echoes to village squares, mobilisation must surge. As Effurun’s sun dipped, the message lingered, vote or vanish.
