PDP Leadership Crisis: Court Gives Anyanwu 7 Days To Present Supreme Court Ruling

• Court orders Anyanwu to submit Supreme Court ruling within seven days.
• PDP’s internal dispute over National Secretary post remains unresolved.
• Judgment on the case is scheduled for April 28.

The Federal High Court in Abuja has directed Senator Samuel Anyanwu to submit the Supreme Court ruling that he claims reinstated him as the National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) within seven days.

Justice Inyang Ekwo issued the order on Tuesday following submissions by Chief Ken Njamanze, SAN, Anyanwu’s lead counsel, who argued that the Supreme Court had resolved the dispute over the PDP’s national secretary position in his client’s favor.

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EKO HOT BLOG reports that this directive was given during the hearing of a suit filed by Anyanwu seeking to halt the enforcement of previous rulings that removed him from office and recognized Rt. Hon. Udeh-Okoye Ememchukwu as the legitimate National Secretary of the party.

The dispute stems from a December ruling by the Court of Appeal in Enugu, which upheld a High Court decision dismissing Anyanwu and affirming Udeh-Okoye as the PDP’s national scribe. The courts ruled that Anyanwu’s continued tenure violated the PDP’s constitution, as he had contested and won the party’s candidacy for the 2023 Imo State governorship election.

Both the PDP’s Board of Trustees (BoT) and the National Working Committee (NWC) backed Udeh-Okoye, further cementing his position as the rightful National Secretary.

However, dissatisfied with the rulings, Anyanwu appealed to the Supreme Court and simultaneously filed a motion at the high court to suspend the enforcement of the judgments against him.

In a unanimous verdict last Friday, a five-member panel of Supreme Court Justices annulled the lower court decisions, citing a lack of jurisdiction. The apex court ruled that the dispute was an internal party affair, a matter in which the judiciary had no authority to intervene.

The Supreme Court’s decision sparked mixed reactions, with both Anyanwu’s and Udeh-Okoye’s camps declaring victory.

In an affidavit responding to Anyanwu’s claims, Udeh-Okoye, identified as the fourth defendant, argued that although Anyanwu was elected as National Secretary during the PDP’s National Convention on October 30, 2021, he forfeited the position when he was nominated as the party’s governorship candidate in Imo State.

He cited Article 47(5) of the PDP Constitution, which mandates that any party officer seeking elective office must resign before contesting. Article 47(6) further allows for a replacement from the same region to complete the tenure of a vacating officer.

Udeh-Okoye explained that the PDP BoT had, in a letter dated October 12, 2023, notified the National Chairman, Ambassador Umar Damagun, of Anyanwu’s constitutional violation. Subsequently, the South East PDP executives convened in Enugu on October 16, 2022, where he was nominated to serve out the remainder of Anyanwu’s term.

He maintained that the legal proceedings leading to the lower court rulings stemmed from this nomination process and urged the court to dismiss Anyanwu’s suit.

After hearing arguments from all parties, Justice Ekwo fixed April 28 for judgment.

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