A Federal High Court in Abuja has struck out a suit filed by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) challenging the legality of some provisions of the recently amended Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 2020. Justice Inyang Ekwo, in a ruling on Thursday, which The Nation sighted on Friday, held that CAN did not comply with the relevant law in filing the suit. Justice Ekwo found the CAN wrongly instituted the suit in a name other than its legal name, thereby rendering the suit incompetent.
The judge upheld the objection by the first defendant – the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), to the effect that the plaintiff’s decision to file the case in a name other than its incorporated name affects the competence of the suit and its (CAN’s) capacity to sue. The plaintiff had filed the suit in the name of “The Incorporated Trustees of Christian Association of Nigeria,” as against the name: “The Registered Trustees of Christian Association of Nigeria,” as contained in its certificate of incorporation.
CAN had claimed, in an application for amendment, that the error in the name with which the suit was filed was occasioned by its lawyer, who did not sight its certificate of incorporation before filing the suit in court. Justice Ekwo, in the ruling, dismissed the plaintiff’s application, in which it had sought the court’s permission to allow it replace the word: “Incorporated” with “Registered.” The judge noted that the misrepresentation in the name of the plaintiff was fundamental.
By the ruling of the court, striking out the case, the plaintiff is at liberty to re-file the suit, having taken care of the error detected in the one struck out to enable the court determine the issues raised on the merit. CAN had, in the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/244/2021, with the CAC and the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment (as defendants), prayed the court to among others, declare sections 839(1), (7)(a) and (10); 842(1); 842(2); 843; 851 and 854 of CAMA 2020 as being inconsistent with sections 4(8); 6(6)(b); 251(1)(e) and 251(3) of the Constitution, therefore unconstitutional and void.
