The Supreme Court on Monday reserved judgment in the appeal filed by Samuel Anyanwu, the embattled National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), challenging his removal from office.
Anyanwu is seeking to overturn the judgment of the Court of Appeal, Enugu, which upheld the Federal High Court’s decision that ousted him and recognized Sunday Udey-Okoye as his replacement.
Through his counsel, Ken Njemanze (SAN), Anyanwu filed a ten-ground appeal, urging the apex court to set aside the lower court’s decision.
The appeal, marked SC/CV/82/2025, lists Aniagu Emmanuel, the PDP, National Chairman Ambassador Iliya Damagun, and High Chief Ali Odefa (National Vice Chairman, Southeast Zone, PDP) as the first to fourth respondents.
Anyanwu argued that the Court of Appeal erred by ruling on a matter concerning the internal affairs of the PDP, asserting that leadership and membership issues within a political party are non-justiciable and beyond judicial review.
He also contended that the lower court failed to determine whether the plaintiff had exhausted the PDP’s internal dispute resolution mechanisms before filing the suit.
Additionally, he challenged the court’s decision to grant the plaintiff the legal standing (locus standi) to bring the case.
Anyanwu further questioned the lower court’s interpretation of Section 84(12) of the Electoral Act 2022, insisting that he neither resigned nor was removed from his position.
He maintained that the PDP constitution provides a four-year single term for executive officers, and the courts had no legal basis to conclude that he vacated his office.
During the hearing, all parties adopted their processes, except for the PDP and its National Chairman, Damagun, who did not file any documents.
Counsel for the respondents, referencing the case of Ali Modu Sheriff vs PDP, urged the court to reconsider its previous stance that political party leadership matters fall outside judicial jurisdiction.
He insisted that Anyanwu had resigned, and the trial court had already ruled on this point.
“The lower court held that he resigned because the constitution mandates resignation for anyone seeking to contest an election,” the counsel argued.
However, the Supreme Court questioned whether it had the authority to determine who holds office within a political party.
In his submission, Njemanze maintained that the lower courts lacked jurisdiction over the case, as it was an internal party matter.
“My Lords, this court has consistently ruled that leadership issues within political parties are non-justiciable. The lower courts had no jurisdiction over this matter,” Njemanze stated while urging the court to allow the appeal.
Following his submission, the five-member panel of the Supreme Court, led by Justice Uwani Musa Abba-Aji, announced that judgment had been reserved, with a date to be communicated to the parties later.
Earlier in the proceedings, the court struck out Anyanwu’s motion for a stay of execution after Njemanze applied to withdraw it.
With no objections from the respondents, Justice Abba-Aji ruled, “The application for a stay of execution, filed on February 5, was withdrawn without any objection from either party.”
