Court strikes out CAN’s suit against CAMA 2020

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.

“As it is, the correct and proper name by which the plaintiff can sue of be sued is ‘The Registered Trustees of Christian Association of Nigeria’ and not ‘The Incorporated Trustees of Christian Association of Nigeria.’