• Voids lower court’s sack of Samuel Anyanwu as PDP’s national secretary
From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
The Supreme Court has nullified the judgments of the Court of Appeal and Federal High Court, which sacked Senator Samuel Anyanwu as the National Secretary of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
A five-member panel of the apex court on Friday held that the issue of who the National Secretary of the PDP is borders on the internal affairs of a political party which is not justiciable. 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 judgment 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.
In addition, 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 the PDP.
The Court of Appeal had in a judgement it delivered last December, upheld the High Court verdict that sacked Senator Anyanwu and recognised Chief Udeh-Okoye Enemchukwu as the authentic national scribe of the party.
Justice Ridwan Abdullahi, who delivered the lead judgment, dismissed as incompetent and lacking in merit, Anyanwu’s bid to upturn the decision of the High Court.
It 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.
Dissatisfied, Anyanwu proceeded to the Supreme Court to challenge the appellate court decision.
The Board of Trustees, and the National Working Committee of the PDP, had earlier endorsed Chief Okoye as the national secretary of the party, in line with the subsisting court judgments. However, Anyanwu vehemently rejected the decisions, insisting that the position was the subject of a pending litigation.