Court Dismisses Itsekiri Suit Against Warri Ward Delineation, Upholds ₦4m Cost

The Court of Appeal, Abuja Judicial Division, has dismissed an appeal filed by Itsekiri representatives seeking to halt the enforcement of the Supreme Court-ordered delineation of electoral wards and polling units in the Warri Federal Constituency of Delta State.

The appeal, marked CA/ABJ/CV/1457/2025: Hon. Appearance Afejuku & Ors v. INEC & Ors, was filed by Hon. Appearance Afejuku, Youth President of the Itsekiri Ethnic Nationality, and three others.

Delivering judgment on Friday, May 15, 2026, a three-member panel of the appellate court, presided over by Justice Uchechukwu Onyemenam, dismissed the appeal for lacking merit and upheld the earlier decision of the lower court.

The appellate court also affirmed the award of ₦4 million in costs against the appellants.

The case stemmed from an earlier judgment delivered on July 1, 2025, by Justice Omotosho of the Federal High Court, which dismissed a suit seeking to restrain the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from implementing the December 2, 2022 judgment of the Supreme Court in SC/413/2016: Hon. George U. Timinimi & 9 Ors v. INEC.

In that ruling, the Federal High Court held that the suit constituted a gross abuse of court process and lacked merit, as argued by counsel representing INEC, as well as the Ijaw and Urhobo communities of Warri. The court consequently awarded ₦4 million in costs against the plaintiffs.

Dissatisfied with the decision, the Itsekiri appellants proceeded to the Court of Appeal, which has now upheld the lower court’s judgment, ruling that the issue of delineation in Warri had been conclusively settled by the Supreme Court.

The appellate court’s decision effectively clears the way for the full implementation of the apex court’s directive on fresh delineation ahead of future elections in the Warri Federal Constituency.

In a related development, the Federal High Court sitting in Warri dismissed another suit filed by Itsekiri plaintiffs challenging the interim report released by INEC on the fresh delineation exercise.

The suit, FHC/WR/CS/37/2025: Ejeyi Philip & Ors v. INEC, sought to set aside the interim report published by INEC on May 3, 2025.

The plaintiffs had argued that the Itsekiri community was not consulted prior to the delineation exercise.

However, the court held that there was no requirement in the Supreme Court judgment mandating prior consultation with the Itsekiri community before implementation of the delineation directive.

The court further described the suit as premature, noting that the interim report constituted only a proposal and not a final determination.

With both the appellate and trial courts dismissing the challenges, the legal obstacles to the implementation of the Supreme Court’s directive on Warri ward delineation appear to have been significantly reduced.