THE Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Tuesday, granted an application filed by the embattled national secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Samuel Anyanwu, seeking to amend the originating summons he filed in a suit seeking to validate his position as the National Secretary of the Party.
When the matter was called, U C Njemanze-Aku representing Anyanwu informed the court that the matter was adjourned till Tuesday for ruling on plaintiff’s application to amend the originating summons filed in the matter.
In a brief ruling, the trial judge, Justice Mohammed Umar allowed the amendment of the plaintiff’s application and awarded a cost of N30,000 cost to be paid to each of the defendants by the plaintiff and adjourned the matter till January 20, 2026 for hearing.
Aside from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the national chairman of the PDP, Umar Damagun, other defendants in the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/254/2025, are the party itself, Honourable Udeh-Okoye Ememchukwu, the national vice chairman, PDP South-East, Ali Odela, as well as the deputy national secretary of the party, Setonji Koshoedo.
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Senator Anyanwu had approached the court to stay the execution of concurrent judgments that removed him from the position and recognised Udeh-Okoye as the national secretary of the party.
The Court of Appeal in Enugu had, in a judgment delivered last December, upheld a High Court verdict that sacked Senator Anyanwu and recognised Udeh-Okoye as the national scribe of the party.
The court held that Anyanwu’s continued stay in office as national secretary was in breach of PDP’s Constitution, having contested and emerged as the party’s candidate in the governorship election that held in Imo State last year.
Both the Board of Trustees (BOT) and the National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP, acting on the strength of the judgments, endorsed Chief Udeh-Okoye.
However, dissatisfied with the verdicts, Anyanwu lodged an appeal before the Supreme Court, even as he approached the high court with an application that sought to suspend the execution of the judgments against him.
While deciding the matter on May 21, the apex court, in a unanimous decision by a five-member panel of Justices, voided judgments of the two lower courts for want of jurisdiction.
The Supreme Court held that the dispute the courts resolved, bordered on domestic affairs of a political party which it said no court has the statutory powers to meddle in.
The apex court judgement elicited varied reactions with both Anyanwu and Udeh-Okoye’s camps claiming victory.
Meanwhile, in an affidavit he filed in response to Senator Anyanwu’s case, Honourable Udeh-Okoye, who is the fourth defendant, told the court that though the plaintiff was elected at a National Convention the party held on October 30, 2021, for a four-year tenure, he, however, lost the position after he was nominated as candidate of the party for the governorship election that held in Imo State in 2023.
