PDP crisis: Supreme Court rejects National Secretary Anyanwu’s stay of execution request

In a significant development, the Supreme Court on Monday struck out a motion filed by Sen. Samuel Anyanwu, the embattled National Secretary of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), after he withdrew his request for a stay of execution order on the judgment that removed him from office.

Persecondnews reports that a five-member panel of the Supreme Court, led by Justice Uwani Abba-Aji, struck out the motion after it was withdrawn by Anyanwu’s counsel, Mr. Ken Njamanze (SAN).

Njamanze said the motion was withdrawn to clear the path for the hearing of the main case, allowing the court to focus on the substantive issue at hand.

While Anyanwu appealed to the Supreme Court to overturn the Enugu Division of the Court of Appeal’s judgment that removed him from office, the respondent, represented by Mr. Paul Erokoro (SAN), countered by asking the court to uphold the original verdict.

Meanwhile, after listening to arguments from both sides, the panel decided to reserve its judgement in the case

Persecondnews had reported that the appellate court had, in a judgement it delivered last December, upheld a High Court verdict that sacked Sen. Anyanwu and recognised Chief Ude Okoye as the authentic national scribe of the party.

In its lead judgment, delivered by Justice Ridwan Abdullahi, the appellate court dismissed Anyanwu’s appeal as incompetent and lacking in merit.

The court ruled that his continued tenure as national secretary violated the PDP’s constitution, as he had contested and won the party’s nomination for governor in 2024 Imo State’s election.

Dissatisfied with the concurrent judgments of the two lower courts, he appealed to the Supreme Court to overturn their decisions.

Anyanwu, in addition to his main appeal, also submitted a motion requesting an expedited hearing and a shorter timeframe for resolving the matter, emphasizing the vital role of the National Secretary’s office in the party’s affairs.

The Supreme Court, after expediting the hearing of the case, directed that court processes be served on respondent Mr. Aniagu Emmanuel, whose lawsuit resulted in Anyanwu’s removal from office.

Persecondnews recalls 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 judgments.

Anyanwu categorically rejected the decisions, firmly maintaining that the position of National Secretary remains disputed and under litigation.