S’court reverses judgment sacking Wike’s ally Sam Anyanwu as PDP national secretary

The supreme court has nullified the judgment which sacked Samuel Anyanwu as national secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The apex court, in its verdict on Friday, set aside the rulings of the court of appeal in Enugu and that of a federal high court.

Anyanwu is an ally of Nyesom Wike, minister of the federal capital territory (FCT).

Anyanwu and Udeh-Okoye have been laying claim to the position of national secretary.

BACKGROUND

In December 2024, the court of appeal ruled that Udeh-Okoye should replace Anyanwu as PDP national secretary.

The south-east zonal executive committee of the party nominated Udeh-Okoye to replace Anyanwu after he became the PDP gubernatorial candidate in Imo state in 2023.

Anyanwu had obtained several court injunctions to prevent his removal from office.

However, in a verdict delivered on December 20, 2024, Ridwan Abdullahi, the appeal court judge, dismissed the judgment of the high court which prevented Anyanwu’s removal, for “lacking in merit”.

Following the judgment, Ude-Okoye was acting as the national secretary of the party.

However, Anyanwu said he appealed the judgment and also filed for a stay of execution at the supreme court same day the appeal court delivered the verdict in favour of Ude-Okoye.

On January 31, governors elected on the PDP platform recognised Udeh-Okoye as the scribe of the party.

About a week later, the party’s board of trustees (BoT) aligned with the governors.

SUPREME COURT VERDICT

In its verdict, the five-member panel of the apex court held that the debate over the position is an internal affair which should not be adjudicated on.

Delivering the lead judgment, Jamilu Tukur consequently struck out the judgment of the trial court delivered in October 2024 and also set aside the majority judgment of the court of appeal.

The court affirmed the minority judgment of the appellate court which had nullified the judgment of the trial court over a “lack of jurisdiction”.

The apex court also held that Aniagu Emmanuel, the plaintiff at the trial court, lacked the necessary legal backing to file the case.