A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has dismissed a suit filed by a chieftain of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Samuel Anyanwu, against the Independent National Electoral Commission and others, without awarding costs.
The Counsel to the defendants did not oppose the withdrawal of the suit during the proceedings, but asked the court to award N1 million as costs.
The request was vehemently opposed by the plaintiff’s counsel, Njemanze-Aku, who argued that the withdrawal was necessitated by factors that are beyond the plaintiff’s control.
“We owe a duty to the court, and to avoid wasting its time, we decided to withdraw the case,” he said, “It is not fair to penalise the plaintiff,” urging the court to allow all parties to bear their respective costs.
After hearing arguments from both sides, Justice Umar dismissed the matter without awarding costs.
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The Judge in his ruling said, “Since you have joined issues, I am going to dismiss this matter. The matter is hereby dismissed.”
On the issue of costs, the court held: “The delay is not on any of the parties. The situation made it so. For this reason, I award no cost.”
The suit is the latest development in the prolonged crisis over the position of National Secretary of the PDP. The dispute began when Anyanwu vacated the office to contest the 2023 Imo State governorship election, which he lost.
Following his defeat, efforts to return to the position triggered internal party disagreements, with Udeh-Okoye emerging as a rival claimant.
On December 20, 2024, the Court of Appeal in Enugu upheld an earlier ruling of the Federal High Court that removed Anyanwu and affirmed Udeh-Okoye as the authentic National Secretary.
Anyanwu subsequently sought a stay of execution and approached the Supreme Court. In March 2025, the apex court overturned the decisions of the lower courts, sacking Anyanwu as PDP National Secretary.
Despite the Supreme Court ruling, the leadership dispute persisted, with factions laying claim to authority at the party’s national secretariat.
In an attempt to resolve the legal uncertainty, Anyanwu later filed a fresh suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja seeking enforcement of his position and related declarations.
In November 2025, the court granted his application to amend the originating summons but ordered him to pay N30,000 in costs to each of the defendants, before adjourning the matter to January 20.
