The Federal High Court in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, on Tuesday, 20 January 2026, dismissed a lawsuit filed by Senator Samuel Anyanwu, a former factional National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Nigeria’s major opposition party, in which he sought recognition as the party’s secretary.
Okay News reports that Justice Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court threw out the case after noting that Anyanwu’s tenure as the PDP national secretary expired in December 2025, making the reliefs he asked the court to grant no longer practical.
In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/254/2025, Anyanwu had initially sued the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Nigeria’s election management body, and Umar Damagum, a former acting National Chairman of the PDP, as the first and second defendants.
Anyanwu’s ex parte motion dated Thursday, 13 February 2025, and filed through his lawyer, Ken Njemanze, asked the court for two interim orders.
First, he requested an interim injunction restraining INEC from accepting, acting on, or giving effect to any correspondence from the PDP that was not signed by him, pending the hearing and determination of a motion on notice for an interlocutory injunction.
He also asked for an interim injunction restraining Damagum from sending to INEC any correspondence purportedly issued by the PDP and signed by the acting chairman without being countersigned by him.
However, on Friday, 28 February 2025, the court joined the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Sunday Udeh-Okoye as third and fourth defendants in the matter.
Justice Umar also joined Dr Ali Odela and Mr Setonji Koshoedo as fifth and sixth defendants, respectively, with Odela identified as the PDP National Vice Chairman for the South East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, and Koshoedo identified as the party’s Deputy National Secretary.
When the case was called on Tuesday, 20 January 2026, U. C. Njemanze-Aku, who appeared for Anyanwu, told the court that his client’s tenure as PDP secretary expired in December 2025 and that it was no longer proper to continue the litigation.
“In the interest of justice, I apply to withdraw this matter to save the time of the court,” he said.
Responding, Akintayo Balogun, counsel to INEC, argued that the suit “ought not to have been instituted in the first place.”
Balogun asked the court to dismiss the case and award costs, requesting ₦1,000,000.
M. O. Akpan, lawyer representing Damagum, aligned with Balogun’s position, while Ugochukwu Okanu, appearing for the fourth defendant, also aligned and requested ₦1,000,000 in costs.
The sixth defendant’s counsel, J. A. Musa, did not oppose the application to withdraw the matter but still asked the court to award ₦1,000,000 in costs.
Njemanze-Aku opposed the requests for costs, arguing that the decision to withdraw the case was driven by circumstances outside the control of the claimant and was intended to prevent unnecessary delay.
“We owe a duty to the court, and to avoid wasting its time, we decided to withdraw the case,” he said.
He added that “it is not fair to penalise the plaintiff,” urging the court to direct parties to bear their respective costs.
After hearing from all sides, Justice Umar dismissed the suit and declined to award costs to any party.
“Since you have joined issues, I am going to dismiss this matter.
“The matter is hereby dismissed,” he ruled.
On the question of costs, the judge added: “The delay is not on any of the parties. The situation made it so. For this reason, I award no cost.”
The dispute over the PDP National Secretary position, as outlined in court, was linked to a leadership crisis that began after Anyanwu vacated the office to contest the 2023 governorship election in Imo State, a state in south eastern Nigeria, which he lost.
After the election, attempts by Anyanwu to reclaim the office reportedly triggered internal tensions within the PDP, with Udeh-Okoye emerging as a rival claimant to the position.
In the account presented in court, the Court of Appeal in Enugu, Enugu State, in south eastern Nigeria, on Friday, 20 December 2024, upheld an earlier decision of the Federal High Court that removed Anyanwu and affirmed Udeh-Okoye as the authentic secretary.
The same account stated that Anyanwu filed for a stay of execution and appealed at Nigeria’s Supreme Court, and that in March 2025, the Supreme Court overturned the decisions of the Court of Appeal and the Federal High Court, sacking Anyanwu as the National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party.
Despite the Supreme Court outcome, the leadership disagreement reportedly continued, with factions within the PDP’s national secretariat still laying claim to authority.
To address what was described as ongoing legal uncertainty, Anyanwu later filed a fresh matter at the Federal High Court in Abuja seeking declarations and enforcement related to his position.
In November 2025, the Federal High Court granted his application to amend his originating summons, with Justice Umar awarding ₦30,000 to be paid by the plaintiff to each of the defendants, and adjourning the case to Tuesday, 20 January 2026, for hearing, a date that ultimately ended with the court dismissing the suit without further costs.
