A Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, has declined jurisdiction to hear a suit challenging the alleged omission of seven state constituencies from Rivers State’s electoral structure, directing that the case file be forwarded to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court for necessary administrative action.
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Justice Emmanuel Obile held that the Port Harcourt Division was not the appropriate venue to entertain and determine the action and identified the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court as the proper division for the case.
The suit, marked FHC/PHC/CS/140/2026, was instituted by Port Harcourt-based legal practitioner Ogechukwu Okparanta against the Independent National Electoral Commission.
Okparanta is seeking judicial intervention over what he described as a seven-constituency deficit in Rivers State, contending that the existing structure does not comply with Sections 91 and 112 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
When the matter came up, Okparanta, who appeared in person, urged the court to assume jurisdiction, arguing that the division of the Federal High Court into judicial divisions was primarily for administrative convenience and did not alter the character of the court as one federal institution.
He maintained that because the dispute concerned constituencies in Rivers State, there was sufficient basis for the Port Harcourt Division to hear the matter.
The lawyer also urged the court to allow INEC to appear and address the jurisdictional question, contending that raising and determining the issue suo motu could give the impression that the court had already formed a view against hearing the substantive case.
Okparanta further argued that the Federal High Court Rules permit a matter to proceed notwithstanding that it may have been commenced in the wrong judicial division.
In support of his position, he referred to similar constituency-related suits which, according to him, had been filed and determined by Federal High Court divisions in Delta, Benue and Kogi states.
Justice Obile, however, disagreed and held that the Port Harcourt Division lacked the requisite jurisdiction to entertain the matter.
The judge consequently directed that the case file be referred to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court for the necessary administrative steps, having identified Abuja as the appropriate judicial division.
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