A Federal High Court in Abuja has held that the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) does not possess the powers to change the Incorporated Trustees of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON).
Justice Obiora Egwuatu consequently nullified the commission’s change of the trustees, because the CAC made the change without complying with the relevant law.
Delivering judgement in a suit brought by the trustees of the local government association, the judge held that ALGON was a private organisation, pursuant to the judgement of the Supreme Court in Riyuk and Incorporated Trustees of ALGON and as such, not bound by the resolution of the House of Representatives.
CAC was said to have purportedly removed the trustees of the association, pursuant to a resolution of the House of Representatives Committee on States and Local Governments.
However, the trustees – Chukwudi Ezinwa, Gabriel Ugor, Shaba Shuaibu, Benjamin Kure-Solomon and Sani Hassan – who were first to sixth plaintiffs, respectively, in the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1980/2024, sued CAC as the sole defendant.
In the originating process filed by their lawyer, Joe Agi, SAN, they sought two issues for determination.
They prayed the court to determine whether CAC’s action of changing their names as ALGON Trustees based on the so-called investigation report of the status of ALGON trusteeship, findings and resolution of the House of Representatives Committee on States and Local Governments did not violate their right to fair hearing as enshrined in Section 851(4) of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), 2020, as amended, and also Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution , as amended.
They also urged the court to determine whether CAC could validly replace and appoint additional trustees for ALGON on the basis of the resolution of the House Committee on States and Local Governments in the face of the mandatory statutory provisions of Section 834 and 835 of CAMA.
In their reliefs, they urged the court to declare that the removal or substitution of the names of the second to sixth plaintiffs as trustees of ALGON without a valid resolution at a general meeting of the association and the assent of same in writing to the board or the association was unknown to law.
They asked the court to declare the act as illegal, void and a violation of their right to fair hearing as provided for in Section 851(3&4) of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), 2020.
They sought an order directing CAC to immediately cancel the status report issued on August 20, 2024, and revert to the status report issued on December 12, 2023, as valid and authentic status report of the association.
They sought, “An order of perpetual injunction restraining the CAC from tampering or altering the status of the trustees of ALGON, save with a valid resolution passed in a general meeting of the first plaintiff,” among other reliefs.
In a 17-paragraph affidavit deposed to by Shaban Shuaibu in support of their suit, the plaintiffs averred that the House committee members were not members of ALGON and that no member of the association’s trustees called any general meeting authorising, by resolution, the alteration of the names of ALGON Trustees.
Shuaibu stated in the affidavit, “That, the Registrar General, as chairman of the administrative committee did not, before acting on the resolution of the House Committee on States and Local Governments or thereafter, invited me or any of us to give us a hearing as required by law.
“That, we deserve to be heard by the defendant under any circumstances before it purported to remove our names.”
Egwuatu, while delivering the judgement, held that the removal of ALGON Trustees without following the law was illegal, null and void.
The judge, consequently, ordered that the Incorporated Trustees of the Association that was removed be returned immediately by CAC.
The lawyer, who appeared for ALGON Trustees, Oladimeji Ekengba, while speaking to newsmen shortly after the judgement, said going by the judgement, the plaintiffs were trustees of the association.
Alex Enumah
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