The Supreme Court of Nigeria has denied an application filed by Senator Samuel Nnaemeka Anyanwu for a stay of execution of a ruling that removed him as the National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)......CONTINUE READING THE ARTICLE FROM THE SOURCE>>>>>
The Court of Appeal, Enugu division, in its ruling on December 20, 2024, affirmed Udeh Okoye as the authentic National Secretary of the party.
Following the ruling, Anyanwu filed an appeal at the Apex Court, seeking a reversal of the declaration and a stay d execution of the order removing him from office.
In a ruling on Friday, the Supreme Court held that the judgement of the appellate court is “declaratory” and cannot be stayed.
The court therefore granted an accelerated hearing to the appeal by Anyanwu challenging his removal and adjourned proceedings to March 10, 2025.
Anyanwu’s removal from office has been a subject of controversy, with some party members supporting his continued leadership, while others backed Okoye.
Consequently, today’s ruling means that Okoye remains in office if not temporarily, until Anyanwu’s appeal is heard and decided upon by the Apex court.
It would be recalled that the PDP Board of Trustees (BOT), led by former Senate President Adulphus Wabara, backed Okoye, claiming they made the decision after a thorough review of a committee report led by Tanimu Turaki.
According to him, the board’s decision was in line with the Appeal Court’s ruling, which affirmed Ude-Okoye’s legitimacy as National Secretary.
Anyanwu however, dismissed the BoT’s decision as “unfortunate” and legally flawed, citing the temporary nature of the stay of execution which he claimed expired on January 27.
He also questioned the BoT’s authority, saying most of its members’ tenures had expired.