The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Tuesday struck out a fresh lawsuit filed by Senator Samuel Anyanwu, a factional National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), after he formally applied to withdraw the case.
At the resumed proceedings, Anyanwu’s counsel, U. C. Njemanze-Aku, informed the court that recent developments had rendered the matter irrelevant, urging the court to allow its withdrawal in the interest of justice.
“This suit has been overtaken by events. Continuing with it would only waste the court’s time, and we respectfully apply to withdraw it,” the lawyer said.
The legal dispute over the office of PDP National Secretary began when Anyanwu stepped aside from the position to contest the 2023 Imo State governorship election, a race he eventually lost.
His attempt to return to the office afterwards triggered internal divisions within the party, with Sunday Udeh-Okoye emerging as a rival claimant to the position.
On December 20, 2024, the Court of Appeal in Enugu upheld an earlier ruling of the Federal High Court that removed Anyanwu from office and recognised Udeh-Okoye as the party’s legitimate National Secretary.
Anyanwu challenged the decision at the Supreme Court and sought a stay of execution. In March 2025, the apex court overturned the judgments of both the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal, reinstating Anyanwu.
Despite the Supreme Court ruling, the leadership crisis at the PDP national secretariat persisted, with competing factions continuing to assert authority.
To address the lingering uncertainty, Anyanwu filed a fresh suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking enforcement of his position and other related reliefs.
In November 2025, the court approved his request to amend the originating summons but imposed a cost of N30,000 in favour of each defendant. The matter was then adjourned to January 20, 2026, for hearing.
However, when the case came up on Tuesday, Anyanwu chose to discontinue the suit through his counsel, effectively bringing the protracted court battle to a close.
Reacting, counsel for the second defendant, Akintayo Balogun, argued that the case should never have been filed and asked the court to dismiss it with costs, demanding N1 million.
Lawyers representing the third, fourth and sixth defendants — M. O. Akpan, Ugochukwu Okanu and J. A. Musa respectively — aligned with Balogun’s submissions and each requested costs ranging from N1 million to N1.5 million.
In response, Njemanze-Aku maintained that the withdrawal was necessitated by circumstances beyond his client’s control and not a voluntary abandonment of the suit.
“We owe a duty to this court. It would be unjust to penalise the plaintiff under these circumstances,” he argued, urging the court to order each party to bear its own costs.
In his ruling, the presiding judge dismissed the suit.
“Having joined issues, this matter is hereby dismissed,” the judge ruled.
On the issue of costs, the court rejected all the requests, noting that none of the parties was responsible for the delay.
“The situation itself occasioned the delay. In view of this, no costs are awarded,” the judge concluded.
