The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has filed a lawsuit before the Federal High Court Abuja challenging the legality of the recently gazetted controversial Companies and Allied Matters Act 2020 (CAMA).
This was disclosed in a statement issued by Joseph Bade Daramola, General Secretary of CAN, on Monday.
The suit, with number FHC/ABJ/CS/244/2021, filed by the Incorporated Trustees of Christian Association of Nigeria, with the Corporate Affairs Commission and the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment listed as the respondents.
According to the association, it is not comfortable with the law, stating that “all attempts to convince the Federal government why it should not intervene or interfere with the management of the Church in the country through any of its agencies failed”.
“The satanic section of the controversial and ungodly law is Section 839 (1) &(2), which empowers the Commission to suspend trustees of an association (in this case, the church) and appoint the interim managers to manage the affairs of the association for some given reasons, is unacceptable,” the statement partly read.
According to the statement, legal luminaries representing CAN include Prof J. Amupitan (SAN), Wale Adesokan (SAN), Isaac Okpanachi, Comfort Otera Chigbue, Godswill Iyoke, Dr Cyril Obika, Geraldine Mbah, Francis Oronsaye and Oluniyi Adediji.
Others are Charles Ndukwe, Emmanuel Ekong, Darlington Onyekwere, Madu Joe-Kyari Gadzama, Lama Joe-Kyari Gadzama, Rev Fr. Joseph Ilorah, Jerry Onbugadu Musa, and Amazing Ikpala.
CAMA 2020, which was signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari on August 7, 2020, stipulates that religious bodies and charity organisations will be regulated by the registrar-general of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and a minister.
The law gives the commission the power, by order, to suspend the trustees of an association or a religious body and appoint an interim manager or managers to coordinate its affairs, where it reasonably believes that there has been any misconduct or mismanagement, or where the affairs of the association are being run fraudulently, or where it is necessary or desirable for the purpose of public interest.
The assent which repeals and replaces the extant Companies and Allied Matters Act, 1990, that lasted 30 years.
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