The Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday rejected the request of the embattled National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, to restrain the Independent National Electoral Commission from giving effect to his removal as the party’s secretary.
The Presiding Judge, Justice Inyang Ekwo, however, directed Anyanwu to notify INEC and other defendants in the suit to allow the court to hear their side of the matter.
Through his counsel, Ken Njemanze (SAN), Anyanwu filed an ex-parte application urging the court to stop INEC or its agents from receiving or acting upon correspondences or submissions from the PDP unless signed by him.
He also sought an order restraining PDP chairman Ambassador Umar Damagun from forwarding any correspondence, documents, or written submissions to INEC without his signature.
After considering Anyanwu’s arguments, Justice Ekwo ruled that while a case of urgency had been established, the court would not grant the requested reliefs through an ex-parte application.
Instead, he emphasised the need to hear from the defendants before making any orders.
Consequently, the judge directed Anyanwu to serve court processes on INEC and Damagun and ordered both parties to appear in court.
Justice Ekwo set February 24 as the date for hearing the case.
