Federal High Court dismisses Anyanwu’s suit seeking PDP National Secretary recognition

The Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed a suit filed by Senator Samuel Anyanwu, a factional National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), seeking official recognition as the party’s national scribe.

Justice Mohammed Umar struck out the suit on Tuesday after it was established that Anyanwu’s tenure as PDP National Secretary had expired in December 2025, rendering the case academic.

The suit, filed as FHC/ABJ/CS/254/2025, was originally brought against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Umar Damagun, former Acting National Chairman of the PDP, listed as the first and second defendants. Anyanwu had filed an ex-parte application on February 13, 2025 through his counsel, Ken Njemanze, seeking two interim orders.

He asked the court to restrain INEC from recognising or acting on any PDP correspondence not signed by him, pending the determination of a motion for interlocutory injunction. He also sought to bar Damagun from sending any PDP correspondence to INEC that was not countersigned by him.

On February 28, 2025, the court expanded the list of parties by joining the PDP and Sunday Udeh-Okoye as third and fourth defendants. Justice Umar later added Dr Ali Odela and Mr Setonji Koshoedo as fifth and sixth defendants, identified as the PDP’s National Vice Chairman (South-East) and Deputy National Secretary respectively.

During Tuesday’s proceedings, Anyanwu’s counsel informed the court that his client’s tenure as National Secretary had expired in December 2025, making the suit irrelevant.

“In the interest of justice, I apply to withdraw this matter to save the time of the court,” Njemanze-Aku told the court.

INEC’s counsel, Akintayo Balogun, argued that the suit should not have been instituted in the first place and urged the court to dismiss the matter with costs, requesting N1 million. Counsel to Damagun, M. O. Akpan, aligned with INEC’s position, while Ugochukwu Okanu representing the fourth defendant also supported the call for costs. Counsel to the sixth defendant, J. A. Musa, raised no objection to the withdrawal but requested N1 million as cost.

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However, Anyanwu’s lawyer opposed the award of costs, arguing that the withdrawal was necessitated by developments beyond their control. He maintained that it would be unfair to penalise the plaintiff, urging the court to direct each party to bear its own costs.

After hearing submissions, Justice Umar dismissed the suit without awarding costs.

“Since you have joined issues, I am going to dismiss this matter. The matter is hereby dismissed,” he ruled. On costs, the judge added: “The delay is not on any of the parties. The situation made it so. For this reason, I award no cost.”

The dispute over the PDP National Secretary position began after Anyanwu vacated the office to contest the 2023 Imo State governorship election, which he lost. His attempt to return to the position led to internal party tension, with Sunday Udeh-Okoye claiming the role.

On December 20, 2024, the Court of Appeal in Enugu affirmed an earlier Federal High Court ruling that removed Anyanwu and recognised Udeh-Okoye as the authentic PDP National Secretary. Anyanwu challenged the decision by filing for a stay of execution and taking the matter to the Supreme Court.

In March 2025, the Supreme Court overturned the earlier judgments, reinstating Anyanwu. Despite the apex court’s ruling, rival factions continued to assert control at the party’s national secretariat.

In a bid to resolve the lingering uncertainty, Anyanwu filed a fresh suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja seeking enforcement of his position and related declaratory reliefs.

In November 2025, the court granted his application to amend the originating summons, though it awarded costs of N30,000 against the plaintiff in favour of each defendant and adjourned the matter to January 20 for hearing.