There is disquiet in the camp of the Nyesom Wike-led Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), with its National Secretary, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, filing a Notice of Appeal at the Court of Appeal seeking to overturn the judgement of the Abuja High Court, which had, on 12 January 2026, affirmed his recommended expulsion from the party by the Chief Tom Ikimi-led National Disciplinary Committee (NDC) for anti-party activities.
Anyanwu, in the Notice of Appeal filed on 10 April 2026, is praying the appellate court to set aside the judgment of the lower court and annul the recommended expulsion from the party.
The judgement, which has not been vacated or stayed, has endangered the validity of the 28–29 March 2026 National Convention, which produced Abdulrahman Mohammed-led factional PDP leadership, following Anyanwu’s involvement in the appointment of Mohammed as factional acting national chairman, as well as his membership of Wike’s camp’s National Caretaker Working Committee (NWC) that organised the convention.
The anxiety in the faction is compounded by the judgment of the Court of Appeal, which had on 9 March 2026 affirmed the 1 November 2025 decision of the party’s NWC suspending Anyanwu, as well as the faction’s National Legal Adviser, Kamaldeen Ajibade, National Organising Secretary, Bature Umar, and National Auditor, Okechukwu Osuoha, from the party.
Members of the faction are apprehensive that Anyanwu signed the letter to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) appointing Abdulrahman Mohammed as Acting National Chairman on 3 November 2025 while under suspension, a situation they fear may have jeopardised all other activities of the faction, including its national convention, the composition of its National Working Committee, and its capacity to validly nominate candidates for election.
It would be recalled that the Chief Ikimi seven-member committee had on 10 March 2025 recommended the expulsion of Senator Anyanwu from the PDP for anti-party activities, following findings arising from petitions by some party members. The NDC report indicated that Anyanwu declined to appear before the committee.
Challenging the recommendation of the National Disciplinary Committee, Anyanwu had dragged the NDC and the party’s then National Working Committee led by Amb. Iliya Umar Damagum before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Suit No: CV/1050/2025, praying the court to set aside the findings, decision, and recommendation of the committee on the ground that it lacked competence to determine allegations made against him.
Anyanwu also prayed the trial judge, Justice Yusuf Halilu, to invalidate the decision of the committee, claiming that it constituted a violation of his fundamental right to fair hearing under the constitution of the PDP.
The court, in its judgment, dismissed the case for want of jurisdiction on the ground that Anyanwu’s claims were non-justiciable intra-party disputes, while also affirming that they lacked merit.
Dismissing the claims for lack of merit, the court held that a careful examination of the originating summons, the affidavit in support thereof, and the documentary exhibits relied upon by the plaintiff showed that he failed to establish any basis upon which the court could interfere with the disciplinary proceedings of the 2nd defendant.
The court further held that the evidence before it disclosed that the plaintiff was duly invited to appear before the National Disciplinary Committee but failed to take advantage of the opportunity afforded him, noting that a party who deliberately refuses or neglects to utilise an opportunity to be heard cannot subsequently complain of denial of fair hearing.
It added that the plaintiff did not demonstrate that the National Disciplinary Committee acted outside the powers conferred on it by the constitution of the 2nd defendant, nor that the procedures adopted were fundamentally defective or in breach of natural justice, stressing that courts do not act as appellate bodies over the internal disciplinary mechanisms of voluntary associations where due process is followed.
The plaintiff, the court concluded, having alleged illegality and bias, failed to place sufficient material before the court to justify its intervention in the internal affairs of the 2nd defendant.
Apparently due to mounting apprehension, barely days before the expiration of the time limit for appeal, Senator Anyanwu has now filed a Notice of Appeal praying the Court of Appeal to quash the judgment of the FCT High Court and overturn his recommended expulsion by the party’s National Disciplinary Committee.
