“Since You Have Joined Issues, I Am Going To Dismiss This Matter” — Court Throws Out Anyanwu’s Suit After Tenure As PDP Secretary Expired

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

Justice Mohammed Umar dismissed the suit following the expiration of Anyanwu’s tenure as secretary of the party in December 2025.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Anyanwu, in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/254/2025, had originally sued the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Umar Damagun, the former acting National Chairman of the PDP, as 1st and 2nd defendants.

In the ex parte motion dated and filed on Feb. 13, 2025, by his lawyer, Ken Njemanze, Anyanwu sought two prayers.

He sought an order of interim injunction restraining INEC from accepting, acting on, or giving effect to any correspondence from the PDP not signed by him, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice for an interlocutory injunction.

He also sought an order of interim injunction restraining Damagun from dispatching to INEC any correspondence purportedly emanating from the PDP and signed by the acting chairman without being countersigned by him.

However, the court on Feb. 28, 2025, joined the PDP and Sunday Udeh-Okoye as the 3rd and 4th defendants in the suit.

The judge also joined Dr Ali Odela and Mr Setonji Koshoedo as the 5th and 6th defendants, respectively.

While Odela was said to be the national vice chairman of the PDP’s South-East, Koshoedo was said to be the party’s deputy national secretary.

When the case was called, U. C. Njemanze-Aku, who appeared for Anyanwu, told the court that his client’s tenure as the PDP secretary expired in December last year.

The lawyer said he felt it was improper to continue with a matter that had been overtaken by events.

“In the interest of justice, I apply to withdraw this matter to save the time of the court,” he said.

Responding, Akintayo Balogun, lawyer for INEC, said the suit “ought not to have been instituted in the first place.”

Balogun therefore prayed the court to dismiss it with costs and asked for N1 million as costs.

M. O. Akpan, counsel for Damagun, aligned with Balogun’s submission, while Ugochukwu Okanu, representing the 4th defendant, also aligned and requested N1 million.

Also, the 6th defendant’s lawyer, J. A. Musa, did not object to the application but sought N1 million in costs.

However, Njemanze-Aku objected to the award of costs in favour of the defendants.

He insisted that the withdrawal was due to circumstances beyond their control.

“We owe a duty to the court, and to avoid wasting its time, we decided to withdraw the case,” he said.

He added that “it is not fair to penalise the plaintiff,” and urged the court to allow the parties to bear their own costs.

Justice Umar, after hearing the arguments, 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 held: “The delay is not on any of the parties. The situation made it so. For this reason, I award no cost.”

It would be recalled that the crisis over the PDP national secretary position began when Anyanwu vacated the role to contest the 2023 Imo governorship election, which he lost.

Following his defeat, efforts to reclaim his position as secretary led to internal conflict in the party, with Udeh-Okoye emerging as a contender for the seat.

On Dec. 20, 2024, the Court of Appeal in Enugu upheld an earlier decision of the Federal High Court, which removed Anyanwu and affirmed Udeh-Okoye as the authentic secretary.

However, Anyanwu filed for a stay of execution and subsequently appealed the decision at the Supreme Court.

In March 2025, the Supreme Court overturned the decisions of the Court of Appeal and the Federal High Court.

After the Supreme Court’s decision, the leadership dispute did not immediately end, with different factions continuing to assert authority within the PDP’s national secretariat.

To address lingering legal uncertainty, Anyanwu subsequently filed a fresh suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja seeking enforcement of his position and related declarations.

In November 2025, the Federal High Court granted his application to amend the originating summons he filed in the suit.

Justice Umar allowed the amendment of the plaintiff’s application but awarded a cost of N30,000 to be paid by the plaintiff to each of the defendants and adjourned the matter until Jan. 20 for hearing.

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