A five-member panel of the Supreme Court on Friday voided the concurrent judgments of the Court of Appeal and the Federal High Court, which sacked Mr Samuel Anyanwu as the national secretary of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
Justice Jamilu Tukur who delivered the lead judgement stated that the issue bordering on who serves as the national secretary of the PDP is an internal affair of the political party and, therefore, should not be the business of a Court.
The court proceeded to set aside the decision of the Appeal Court, Enugu Division which on December 20, 2024 affirmed the removal of Anyanwu by a Federal High Court in Enugu.
The Apex Court held the Federal High Court lacked jurisdiction to have heard the matter instituted by Aniagwu Emmanuel.
Justice Tukur subsequently upheld the minority judgment of the appellate court delivered by Justice Ekanem, which had nullified the trial court’s decision on the grounds of lack of jurisdiction.
Furthermore, the apex court held that the plaintiff, Emmanuel, who filed the suit at the trial court, lacked the necessary legal standing to do so, as he failed to demonstrate how he was affected by the appointment of the PDP’s national secretary.
Recall that the apex court had on March 10, reserved judgment in the matter after hearing arguments from Anyanwu’s counsel, Mr Kingsley Njemanze and Mr Paul Erokoro, counsel for Emmanuel.
Anyanwu, who was removed from office following his resignation to contest the last Imo State governorship election—which he lost—had sued the PDP leadership for preventing him from returning to his position as PDP National Secretary after his electoral defeat.
He urged the Supreme Court to void and set aside the concurrent judgments of the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal in Enugu, which had removed him as PDP National Secretary.
Anyanwu argued that having lost his governorship bid in the 2023 Imo State election, he should be allowed to return to the office he had resigned from.
However, Erokoro countered that Anyanwu’s request violated the PDP Constitution, emphasizing that since he had resigned as National Secretary to contest another election, he could not lawfully return to the position.
The second and third defendants in the case, PDP and its national chairman, Mr Illiya Damagun, did not file any process either for or against Anyanwu’s suit.
