ABUJA – The Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, has dismissed an appeal seeking to stop 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 and filed by Hon. Appearance Afejuku, Youth President of the Itsekiri Ethnic Nationality, and three others against INEC and others, was dismissed on Friday, May 15, 2026. A three-member panel led by Justice Uchechukwu Onyemenam held that the case lacked merit.
The appellants had challenged a July 1, 2025 ruling by Justice Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Abuja, which dismissed their suit to halt INEC from implementing the Supreme Court’s December 2, 2022 judgment in SC/413/2016: _Hon. George U. Timinimi & 9 Ors v. INEC_. That court described the suit as an abuse of process and awarded ₦4 million in costs against the plaintiffs.
The Court of Appeal upheld both the dismissal and the cost award, stating that the issue of delineation in Warri had been finally resolved by the Supreme Court. The ruling paves the way for INEC to proceed with the fresh delineation ahead of future elections.
In a related case, the Federal High Court in Warri also dismissed suit FHC/WR/CS/37/2025, filed by Ejeyi Philip and others, seeking to set aside INEC’s interim report on the fresh delineation released on May 3, 2025. The plaintiffs argued they were not consulted before the exercise.
The court held that the Supreme Court judgment did not require consultation with the Itsekiris for implementation and described the suit as premature, noting that the interim report remained a proposal.
