The Supreme Court of Nigeria on Monday reserved judgment in an appeal brought before it by Senator Samuel Anyanwu, seeking to nullify his dismissal as the National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The five-member panel of Justices of the apex court reserved the judgment after hearing arguments from Anyanwu’s counsel, Kingsley Njemanze, SAN, and Chief Paul Erokoro, SAN, who represented Aniagu Emmanuel.
Justice Musa Awani Aba-Aji, who led the panel that heard the matter, reserved judgment to a date that would be communicated to all parties involved.
Anyanwu, who was removed from office due to his resignation to contest the last Imo State governorship election, which he lost, had sued the PDP leadership for preventing him from continuing in office as the PDP National Secretary, having lost his governorship ambition.
At the proceedings on Monday, Anyanwu urged the Supreme Court to void and set aside the concurrent judgments of the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal in Enugu, which removed him as PDP National Secretary.
He insisted that, having lost his governorship ambition in the Imo State governorship election in 2023, he should be allowed to stage a comeback to retain the same office he resigned from.
However, Chief Paul Erokoro, SAN, who represented Aniagu Emmanuel, told the apex court that Anyanwu’s plea violated the Constitution of the PDP, adding that, having resigned as the National Secretary to contest another election, he cannot be allowed to return to the office.
The PDP and Ambassador Illiya Damagun, who are the 2nd and 3rd respondents in the appeal, did not file any process for or against Anyanwu’s suit. However, the 4th respondent, Ali Odeifa, objected to Anyanwu’s bid to return to the office of the National Secretary of the PDP.
Odeifa, through his counsel, Okwudili Anozie, urged the apex court to dismiss Anyanwu’s suit for being frivolous, baseless, and lacking in merit.
In an enquiry by Justice Emmanuel Akomaye Agim to determine whether the Supreme Court has jurisdiction in the leadership of the PDP, Erokoro said the Court had not been consistent in its decisions on such matters and drew the attention of the Court to the case of a former National Chairman of the PDP, Senator Alimodu Sheriff, on the same leadership dispute, where he said the Supreme Court assumed jurisdiction and delivered a judgment that settled the matter against Sheriff.
Earlier, the Court had dismissed an application filed by Anyanwu seeking to stay the execution of the judgments of the Court of Appeal and the Federal High Court that removed him as the National Secretary of the PDP.
The panel of Justices of the apex court, led by Justice Musa Awani Aba-Aji, dismissed the application when Anyanwu, through his counsel, Kingsley Njemanze, SAN, applied for its withdrawal.
It should be recalled that the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal in Enugu had, in their concurrent judgments, removed Anyanwu as PDP National Secretary.
The appellate Court sitting in Enugu had last December upheld a High Court decision that sacked Anyanwu as the National Secretary of the PDP and subsequently affirmed Chief Sunday Ude-Okoye as the substantive National Secretary of the party.
In the lead judgment delivered by Justice Ridwan Abdullahi, the Court of Appeal held that Anyanwu’s appeal was incompetent and lacking in merit.
According to the appellate court, the appellant violated the PDP’s constitution by laying claim to the National Secretary position, having contested and emerged as the PDP candidate in the 2024 governorship election in Imo State.
Dissatisfied, Anyanwu last month approached the apex court to set aside the judgment of the two lower courts and recognise him as the authentic National Secretary of the PDP.
ALSO READ FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
and then