CAN Sues FG, Asks Government Not To Interfere In Church Managenent Over CAMA

 

The Christian Association of Nigeria has dragged the Federal Government to court to challenge some provisions in the just gazetted controversial Companies and Allied Matters Act 2020 popularly called CAMA.

In a statement on Monday by its General Secretary, Joseph Daramola, the Christian body said it is not comfortable with some provisions of CAMA 2020, hence , its decision to challenge the matter in court.

The suit No FHC/ ABJ/ CS/ 244/ 2021 between the Incorporated Trustees of Christian Association of Nigeria; and the Corporate Affairs Commission as well as the Minister of Industry , Trade and Investment was filed before the Federal High Court, Abuja , the statement said .
The case was mentioned at the Federal High Court , Abuja , on Monday , it added.
“ The Association resolved to go to court after 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 statement partly read.

The PUNCH had earlier said that the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd. ) , on August 7, 2020 , signed into law, the Companies and Allied Matters Bill, 2020. The bill, which has also been surpassed by way of the National Assembly, changed the 1990 CAMA.

But top clerics inside the us of a like the Presiding Bishop of the Living Faith Church Worldwide aka Winners’ Chapel, David Oyedepo ; as well as the CAN and the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, among others, have rejected the law, in particular the segment 839 ( 1) and ( 2) of the law which empowers the supervising minister “ to droop trustees of an association ( in this case, the church ) and rent the intervening time managers to manage the affairs of the affiliation for a few given motives.

Human rights lawyer , Femi Falana ( SAN) and a former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission , Chidi Odinkalu , among others, have also stated CAMA 2020 could allow for gross violation of essential human rights, specially the proper of affiliation .
Falana and Odinkalu argued that the new regulation gave an excessive amount of strength to the Registrar General of the Corporate Affairs Commission, that can easily be used to arbitrarily clamp down on civil society firms .