ABUJA–The Supreme Court, on Friday, restored Senator Samuel Anyanwu as the National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
The apex court, in a unanimous decision by a five-member panel, vacated the concurrent verdicts of the Federal High Court and Court of Appeal in Enugu, which sacked him from office.
In the lead judgement that was delivered by Justice Jamilu Tukur, the apex court held that the two lower courts were bereft of the jurisdiction to dabble into domestic affairs of a political party that was not justiciable.
Consequently, the Supreme Court panel affirmed the minority judgement of the appellate court which nullified the decision of the trial court on account of lack of jurisdiction.
More so, the apex court held that the plaintiff, Mr. Aniagu Emmanuel,whose suit led to Anyanwu’s removal from office, lacked the locus standi (legal right) to institute the action.
It held that the plaintiff failed to establish how he was affected by who occupied the office of the National Secretary of PDP.
The appellate court had in a judgement it delivered last December, upheld the High Court verdict that sacked Senator Anyanwu and recognized Chief Udeh-Okoye Enemchukwu as the authentic national scribe of the party.
In its lead judgement that was delivered by Justice Ridwan Abdullahi, the appellate court dismissed as incompetent and lacking in merit, Anyanwu’s bid to upturn the decision of the high court.
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.
However, dissatisfied with the concurrent judgements of the two courts, Anyanwu approached the Supreme Court to set them aside.
Aside from his substantive appeal, he equally filed a motion for accelerated hearing and for the abridgment of time within which the matter would be determined, citing the crucial role of the office of National Secretary in the affairs of the political party.
It will be recalled that both the Board of Trustees, BOT, and the National Working Committee, NWC, of the PDP, had earlier endorsed Chief Okoye as the National Secretary of the party, in line with the subsisting court judgements.
Anyanwu outrightly rejected the decisions, insisting that the position was the subject of a pending litigation.
