A detachment of policemen and operatives of other security agencies were deployed to Wadata Plaza housing the national secretariat of main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday in Abuja to maintain order.
This followed the resumption of Senator Sam Anyanwu as the National Secretary of the party against a court order.
Earlier yesterday, some protesting youths marched to the entrance of the PDP national secretariat with placards bearing various inscriptions, such as: “No vacancy in the National Secretary’s office” and “Senator Sam Anyanwu remains the National Secretary.”
The protesters said they did not want Sunday Ude-Okoye to assume office as the party’s National Secretary.
The youths arrived the national secretariat shortly after Senator Anyanwu had retaken his seat, which he had been occupying since his election to the position in 2021.
But PDP’s National Publicity Secretary Debo Ologunagba, who is among those mobilising support for Udeh-Okoye, described Anyanwu’s action as unfortunate.
In an indirect address to members of the PDP National Working Committee (NWC) and governors elected on the platform of the party who opposed his return, Anyanwu said any opposition to “my position and duty as the National Secretary will not be condoned”.
He added: “Please, regarding the Appeal Court judgment in Enugu on the issue of the office of the National Secretary, it is important you note the following:
“In Nigeria, the general rule is that when an application for a stay of execution has been filed and is pending, the judgment cannot be enforced until the application is determined.
“According to the Nigerian Court of Appeal, in the case of Ogbunyanwa V. Okubo (2013) LPELR20815 (CA), ‘once an application for a stay of execution is filed and pending, it operates as a bar to the execution of the judgment, pending the determination of the application’.
“Similarly, the Nigerian Supreme Court, in the case of A.-G., Federation V. S. P. D. C. Nigeria Limited (2014) LPELR-23143 (SC), held that ‘where an application for a stay of execution is pending, the judgment creditor is restrained from executing the judgment until the application is determined’.
“An exception to this general rule is when the application for a stay of execution is deemed abandoned or withdrawn, then the judgment can be enforced; in this instance, my application for the stay of execution has been filed and pending in court for determination.
“In addition, the judgment has been appealed in Supreme Court with a case number assigned. I have not, in any way, shown a loss of interest in prosecuting the case. As a result, my position as the National Secretary of the party remains sacrosanct…”
But reacting yesterday, Ologunagba said: “We have not received any stay of execution; Anyanwu’s resumption is unfortunate. This is not the time for the party to go through this kind of embarrassing situation.
“The PDP has not received either a motion on notice for a stay (of execution) or been served a stay of execution.
