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By Amah <\/p>\n
Kindly share:<\/p>\n
The Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday brought an end to former Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, factional National Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu\u2019s legal fight to reclaim his position, ruling that the case was now moot.<\/p>\n
Justice Mohammed Umar struck out the suit, noting that Anyanwu\u2019s tenure as national secretary had already expired in December 2025, rendering the legal action overtaken by events.<\/p>\n
Anyanwu had approached the court in February 2025, seeking an injunction to prevent the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, from recognising any PDP correspondence not signed by him. He also sought to stop former acting PDP National Chairman, Umar Damagun, from sending party communications without his countersignature. The PDP and several party officials, including Sunday Udeh-Okoye, Dr. Ali Odela (South-East Vice Chairman), and Setonji Koshoedo (Deputy National Secretary), were subsequently added as defendants.<\/p>\n
During Tuesday\u2019s proceedings, Anyanwu\u2019s lawyer, U. C. Njemanze-Aku, informed the court that the former secretary\u2019s tenure had elapsed. <\/p>\n
\u201cIn the interest of justice and to avoid wasting the court\u2019s time, we apply to withdraw this matter,\u201d he said, emphasising that it would be improper to pursue a case already overtaken by events.<\/p>\n
INEC\u2019s counsel, Akintayo Balogun, had argued that the suit should never have been filed and recommended dismissal with a \u20a61 million cost. <\/p>\n
Other defence lawyers supported this. Njemanze-Aku countered, insisting the withdrawal was beyond his client\u2019s control and urged that parties bear their own costs.<\/p>\n
Justice Umar agreed, dismissing the suit without awarding costs.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe delay is not attributable to any party. Given the circumstances, no cost is awarded,\u201d he ruled.<\/p>\n
The leadership dispute for the PDP national secretary position arose after Anyanwu stepped down to contest the 2023 Imo governorship election, which he lost. His effort to reclaim the office sparked internal conflict, with Udeh-Okoye emerging as a rival claimant.<\/p>\n
The battle traces back to December 2024 when the Court of Appeal in Enugu upheld a Federal High Court ruling, removing Anyanwu and confirming Udeh-Okoye as secretary. Anyanwu appealed to the Supreme Court, which in March 2025 overturned the lower courts’ decisions. <\/p>\n
Despite that ruling, factions within the PDP continued to assert authority, prompting Anyanwu to file a fresh suit in Abuja, now conclusively dismissed by Tuesday\u2019s judgment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Amah Kindly share: The Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday brought an end to former Peoples Democratic Party,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8620,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[271,1167],"class_list":["post-8619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-peoples-democratic-party","tag-samuel-anyanwu"],"yoast_head":"\n