A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Tuesday dismissed a fresh suit filed by a factional National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, following his application to withdraw the case.
At the resumed hearing, Anyanwu’s counsel, U. C. Njemanze-Aku, informed the court that the matter had been overtaken by events and no longer required judicial determination.
According to him, continuing with the suit would amount to an abuse of court time, urging the court to allow its withdrawal in the interest of justice.
The leadership dispute over the position of PDP National Secretary began after Anyanwu vacated the office to contest the 2023 Imo State governorship election, which he lost.
His attempt to reclaim the position afterwards triggered internal tensions within the party, leading to the emergence of Sunday Udeh-Okoye as a rival claimant.
On December 20, 2024, the Court of Appeal sitting in Enugu affirmed earlier decisions of the Federal High Court, which removed Anyanwu from office and recognised Udeh-Okoye as the authentic National Secretary of the PDP.
Anyanwu challenged the verdicts at the Supreme Court, which, in March 2025, overturned the decisions of both the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal.
Despite the apex court’s ruling, the leadership crisis persisted, with factions continuing to assert control over the PDP national secretariat.
In a bid to enforce the Supreme Court judgment, Anyanwu later instituted a fresh suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The court, in November 2025, granted his application to amend the originating summons but awarded costs of N30,000 against him in favour of each defendant and adjourned the matter to January 20, 2026, for hearing.
However, when the case came up for hearing, Anyanwu opted to withdraw the suit, effectively bringing the prolonged legal battle to an end.
Counsel to the second defendant, Akintayo Balogun, opposed the withdrawal, arguing that the suit should never have been filed and urged the court to dismiss it with costs, demanding one million naira.
Other defence lawyers aligned with the submission, seeking costs ranging from one million to N1.5 million.
Responding, Anyanwu’s counsel maintained that the withdrawal was not a voluntary discontinuation but was compelled by circumstances beyond the plaintiff’s control, urging the court to allow parties to bear their own costs.
In his ruling, the presiding judge dismissed the suit and declined all applications for costs.
“The delay is not attributable to any of the parties. The situation made it so. For this reason, I award no cost,” the judge ruled.
