Just In-Supreme Court Reinstates Senator Anyanwu as PDP National Secretary

The Supreme Court has overturned the rulings of the Court of Appeal and Federal High Court, which had previously removed Senator Samuel Anyanwu as the National Secretary of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

Ruling yesterday on the matter, a five-man panel of the apex court held that the issue of who is the occupant of the office of National Secretary is an internal matter of the party, and therefore not subject to judicial scrutiny.

Reading the lead judgment, Justice Jamilu Tukur struck out the judgment of the trial court, which was delivered last October, and set aside the majority judgment of the Court of Appeal, which affirmed the removal of Anyanwu in December. Instead, the Supreme Court upheld the minority judgment of the appellate court, delivered by Justice Ekanem, which nullified the judgment of the trial court on the basis of lack of jurisdiction.

The court also ruled that the plaintiff, Aniagu Emmanuel, who instituted the suit, lacked the locus standi to do so, as he failed to demonstrate how he was affected by who emerged as the National Secretary of the PDP. With this judgment, Senator Anyanwu’s position as the National Secretary of the PDP has been reinstated.