Abuja Court Strikes Out Anyanwu’s PDP National Secretary Claim

A Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday threw out a fresh suit filed by Senator Samuel Anyanwu seeking official recognition as the National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), after the court found that his tenure had already expired.

Justice Mohammed Umar struck out the case when it became clear that Anyanwu’s term as PDP National Secretary ended in December 2025, making the reliefs he requested no longer relevant. The judge held that the dispute had been overtaken by events and was therefore academic.

The suit, FHC/ABJ/CS/254/2025, was initially filed against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Umar Damagun, the PDP’s former acting national chairman. In an ex parte application dated February 13, 2025, Anyanwu asked the court for interim orders to stop INEC from recognising or acting on PDP correspondence that was not signed by him, pending the hearing of his motion for interlocutory injunction.

He also sought an order restraining Damagun from sending any correspondence to INEC that was signed only by the acting chairman and not countersigned by him as national secretary.

On February 28, 2025, the court expanded the case by joining additional parties, including the PDP and Sunday Udeh Okoye. Justice Umar also added Dr Ali Odela, identified as the PDP National Vice Chairman (South East), and Setonji Koshoedo, described as the party’s deputy national secretary.

When the matter came up for hearing, Anyanwu’s lawyer, U.C. Njemanze Aku, informed the court that his client’s tenure had expired in December 2025 and that the circumstances had overtaken the case. He asked the court to allow him withdraw the suit to avoid wasting judicial time.

Counsel to INEC, Akintayo Balogun, argued that the matter should not have been filed in the first place and urged the court to dismiss it. He also asked for costs, requesting ₦1 million. Lawyers representing other defendants supported the request for costs, with several of them also asking the court to award ₦1 million each.

However, Anyanwu’s counsel opposed the request, arguing that the withdrawal was caused by developments beyond the plaintiff’s control. He asked the court to order each party to bear their own costs.

After hearing the parties, Justice Umar dismissed the matter and refused to award costs. He noted that the delay or change in circumstances was not caused by any party, adding that the situation itself made the case academic.

The battle over the PDP National Secretary position has been a long-running internal dispute. It began after Anyanwu left the office to contest the 2023 Imo State governorship election, which he lost. His return attempt later triggered fresh tensions within the party, with Sunday Udeh Okoye also laying claim to the position.

On December 20, 2024, the Court of Appeal in Enugu upheld an earlier Federal High Court decision that removed Anyanwu and recognised Udeh Okoye as the PDP’s national secretary. Anyanwu challenged that outcome at the Supreme Court.

In March 2025, the Supreme Court overturned the lower court rulings and reinstated Anyanwu. Despite that judgment, disagreements and factional claims reportedly continued within the party’s national leadership.

In a bid to enforce his position and obtain further declarations, Anyanwu returned to court with a fresh action. The Abuja court later granted his request to amend his originating summons in November 2025, but awarded ₦30,000 in costs against him in favour of each defendant and fixed January 20 for hearing.

At Tuesday’s sitting, the court held that the key issue had become moot because Anyanwu’s tenure had lapsed, and it dismissed the suit without costs.