The Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday dismissed a suit filed by Senator Samuel Anyanwu, a former factional National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), seeking judicial recognition as the party’s scribe.
Justice Mohammed Umar struck out the case after noting that Anyanwu’s tenure as national secretary had expired in December 2025, rendering the suit academic.
Anyanwu had instituted the suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/254/2025, against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and a former acting National Chairman of the PDP, Umar Damagun. He sought interim orders restraining INEC from recognising any PDP correspondence not signed by him and barring Damagun from transmitting party documents without his endorsement.
The court later joined the PDP, Sunday Udeh-Okoye, Dr Ali Odela and Mr Setonji Koshoedo as additional defendants in the matter.
When the case was called, Anyanwu’s counsel, U.C. Njemanze-Aku, informed the court that his client’s tenure had lapsed and applied to withdraw the suit, describing it as having been overtaken by events. He urged the court to allow parties to bear their own costs.
Counsel to INEC and other defendants opposed the withdrawal without penalty, arguing that the suit should not have been filed in the first place and requesting costs of N1 million each.
In his ruling, Justice Umar dismissed the suit outright but declined to award costs, holding that the delay and circumstances leading to the withdrawal were not attributable to any party.
“The situation made it so. For this reason, I award no cost,” the judge ruled.
The dispute over the PDP national secretary position began after Anyanwu vacated the office to contest the 2023 Imo governorship election, which he lost. His subsequent attempt to reclaim the position triggered internal party conflicts and protracted litigation involving rival claims.
Although appellate and Supreme Court decisions had earlier shaped the contest over the office, factions within the PDP continued to assert authority, prompting Anyanwu to file the latest suit, which has now been dismissed.