By Emmanuel Ogoigbe
Fresh cracks have emerged within the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Warri South Local Government Area of Delta State, as the Warri Urhobo APC Leadership Council has protested what it described as lack of inclusivity and transparency in the composition of invitees for the forthcoming LGA Congress Leadership meeting.
In a petition dated February 13, 2026, and addressed to the Delta State Chairman of APC, Elder Omeni Sobotie, the Urhobo leaders accused the outgoing Warri South LGA APC Chairman, Mr. Mario Owumi, of unilaterally selecting leaders for the meeting scheduled for February 14, 2026.
According to a statement jointly signed by Olorogun Bernard Okumagba (Chairman), Hon. Chief Benson Obire (Vice Chairman), Chief Vincent Okudolor (Secretary), Chief Dr. Westham Adehor, Hon. Mark Ikpuri, Rev. Canon David Otofia, Olorogun Victor Okumagba, Chief Isaac Emifoniye, Chief Ann Gagiyovwi and Chief Peter Agiri, called on the state leadership of the party to urgently address the anomaly ahead of the meeting.
The group alleged that the directive of the state party hierarchy required outgoing local government chairmen to consult widely and jointly determine the modalities for the LGA congress and election of new officials.
According to the petition, Owumi, said to be of Itsekiri extraction, allegedly sent out text messages from his personal phone to selected leaders without consultation with the Urhobo leadership in the LGA.
The council described the move as a violation of the principles of fairness, balance and inclusiveness, adding that the full list of invitees was neither disclosed nor subjected to stakeholder review.
They argued that the development undermines equal representation and appears to tilt the process in favour of one ethnic bloc, contrary to established practice in other local government areas.
The Urhobo leaders called on the state party chairman to clearly enforce equal representation of Urhobo and Itsekiri leaders at the meeting, in line with the party’s directive.
They also urged the leadership to call Mr. Owumi to order to ensure proper consultation, transparency and fairness in both the leadership meeting and the subsequent election of the next Warri South APC executive committee.
The petition warned that anything short of equal representation and prior unveiling of the list of invited leaders could compel the Urhobo bloc to take further decisions.
