Abuja, 13 December, 2021 / 8:00 pm (ACI Africa).
Representatives of Christian leaders in Nigeria are planning to sue the government afresh over the controversial Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 2020 that seeks to allow State authorities to control church operations.
Speaking to journalists Sunday, December 5, the General Secretary of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Rev. Joseph Daramola, said the organization’s lawyers are currently preparing to institute a fresh suit using the proper name of the Plaintiff (CAN) as it is on the Certificate of Incorporation.
Last week, the Federal High Court in Abuja dismissed the suit, which CAN had filed in March over what the judge, Inyang Ekwo, described as failure of the plaintiff to comply with the law in the name used to file the originating summons.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria, CAN had filed an application asking to amend the originating summons and accompanying documents from Incorporated to Registered, such that its name would read “Registered Trustees of Christian Association of Nigeria”, as is indicated on its certificate of incorporation.
Nigeria’s Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), one of the defendants, opposed the position of CAN, saying, “The Incorporated Trustees of the Christian Association of Nigeria” is not recognized under CAMA and that “the originating process of the plaintiff is incurably defective and cannot be cured by an amendment.”