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Ukorebi Esien | January 21, 2026
ABUJA— The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has dismissed the suit filed by Senator Samuel Anyanwu challenging his removal as the National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), dealing a major setback to the camp of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, widely believed to have backed the embattled party chieftain.
Justice M. G. Umar, in a ruling delivered on Tuesday, struck out Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/254/2025 , Sen. Samuel Anyanwu v. INEC & Ors, in which the former PDP National Secretary sought judicial intervention to retain his position and restrain the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from recognising or acting on any PDP correspondence not bearing his signature.
Anyanwu had approached the court following internal party disputes and earlier judicial pronouncements, arguing that his tenure as National Secretary subsisted until December 2025. He also relied on a previous Supreme Court decision which held that the leadership of political parties is largely an internal affair.
However, Justice Umar dismissed the suit on multiple grounds. The court reaffirmed the long-standing position of Nigerian courts that issues bordering on the internal administration and leadership of political parties are non-justiciable and fall outside the jurisdiction of the court.
The judge further held that the suit amounted to an abuse of court process, noting that several cases on the same subject matter were already pending or had been determined at different levels of the judiciary, including the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.
In addition, the court ruled that Anyanwu's tenure had expired by effluxion of time, having been elected as PDP National Secretary in 2021. The court held that he could not lawfully continue to lay claim to the office beyond the tenure for which he was elected.
The ruling effectively nullifies Anyanwu's attempt to use the courts to sustain his hold on the PDP national secretariat and is seen as a significant blow to the political influence of the Wike-aligned faction within the party.
Although Anyanwu has persistently maintained that his term remained valid, he was among the high-ranking PDP members expelled from the party during the Ibadan National Convention held in November 2025.
The PDP currently recognises the Kabiru Tanimu Turaki-led National Working Committee (NWC), which emerged from the Ibadan convention and has since been accepted by the party as its legitimate national leadership.
Political observers say the judgment further strengthens the authority of the PDP's current leadership while narrowing the legal and political options available to dissenting factions within the party.
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