PDP crisis: Court dismisses Anyanwu’s suit against INEC, others

The Federal High Court located in Abuja dismissed a case on Tuesday that was brought by Sen. Samuel Anyanwu, who previously served as the National Secretary of a faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in an effort to be acknowledged as the party's secretary.

Judge Mohammed Umar closed the case due to the end of Anyanwu's term as party secretary in December 2025.

According to reports from the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Anyanwu's suit, cataloged as FHC/ABJ/CS/254/2025, initially targeted the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Umar Damagun, the preceding acting National Chairman of the PDP, as the first and second defendants.

In a motion presented on February 13, 2025, by his attorney, Ken Njemanze, Anyanwu made two requests.

He sought a temporary injunction to prevent INEC from receiving, acting upon, or recognizing any communications from the PDP that were not signed by him, while awaiting the hearing and resolution of the motion regarding an interlocutory injunction.

Additionally, he requested a temporary injunction to stop Damagun from sending any communication that supposedly originated from the PDP to INEC without his countersignature.

On February 28, 2025, the court included the PDP and Sunday Udeh-Okoye as the third and fourth defendants in the case.

The judge also added Dr. Ali Odela and Mr. Setonji Koshoedo as the fifth and sixth defendants.

Odela was identified as the national vice chairman representing the PDP's South East, while Koshoedo was mentioned as the party's deputy national secretary.

When the court session commenced, U.C. Njemanze-Aku, representing Anyanwu, informed the court that his client's term as PDP secretary concluded in December of the previous year.

The attorney indicated that it was inappropriate to pursue a case that had been rendered irrelevant by recent developments.

"To serve justice, I request to withdraw this case to conserve the court’s time," he stated.

In response, Akintayo Balogun, the attorney for INEC, argued that the suit "should not have been filed at all."

Balogun requested that the court dismiss the case along with associated costs.

He proposed a cost of N1 million naira.

M. O. Akpan, representing Damagun, supported Balogun's argument, while Ugochukwu Okanu, who stood for the fourth defendant, agreed and called for a request for one million naira.

Similarly, the attorney for the sixth defendant, J. A. Musa, did not oppose the motion but asked for N1 million in costs.

On the other hand, Njemanze-Aku objected to the defense's positions and opposed the allocation of costs favoring the defendants.

He maintained that the withdrawal was compelled by factors outside their influence.

"We have a responsibility to the court, and to prevent wasting its time, we opted to withdraw the case," he mentioned.

He further noted that "it is unreasonable to penalize the plaintiff," urging the court to allow each party to cover its own costs.

After considering their arguments, Judge Umar dismissed the case without granting any costs.

"Given that you have engaged in this matter, I will dismiss it."