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Azuka Azinge: Abuja Bar Chairman, Folarin Aluko Faults Procedure Adopted by CCT

The Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association, Abuja Branch, Mr. Folarin Aluko, on Tuesday, 31^st December, 2019 faulted the procedure adopted by the Code of Conduct Tribunal in the grant of an ex parte order asking Acting Honorable Registrar, Lady Azuka Azinge to step aside pending the determination of the matter before the Code of Conduct Tribunal.

Media reports have chronicled how the Code of Conduct Tribunal granted an ex parte application which was dated and filed on the 17^th December, 2019, before the substantive matter had commenced at the CCT. The motion was heard and granted during the Christmas Season, after the court had already adjourned the substantive suit to 29^th January, 2020. The interim injunction directed the Acting Registrar General, Lady Azuka Azinge to step aside pending the hearing and determination of a motion on notice to be heard on the 6^th of January, 2019. The Hon. Minister of Trade and Investment was directed by the Tribunal to give effect to the ruling.

In a statement released on the 31^st December, 2019, Mr. Aluko acknowledged that there are grave concerns among members of the public about whether the Code of Conduct Tribunal, an organ of the Executive, is being used to achieve partisan objectives as it would be clearly against Nigerian Law for the Tribunal to direct the Hon. Minister of Trade & Investment to suspend and/or replace a Registrar General of the Corporate Affairs Commission.

According to Mr. Aluko, “By virtue of Section 8 of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), it is only the Corporate Affairs Commission that has the statutory mandate to appoint the Registrar General of the Commission. This power is granted by the CAMA to the exclusion of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and his agent, the Minister of Trade and Investment.”

“Interrogating the issue further, Section 11 (1) (c) of the Interpretation Act goes on to state that where a law confers a power of appointment, that power also includes the power to remove or suspend. By implication of a community reading of these two provisions, only the Corporate Affairs Commission can suspend or remove an Acting or substantive Registrar General. The rationale for this is not farfetched- there is clearly a need to insulate the operations of the Corporate Affairs Commission, and by implication, the economy, from the politics and bureaucracy of the Civil Service.”

“This position which has been affirmed by our Courts, was recently tested in a public interest lawsuit filed on behalf of the Intellectual Property Lawyers Association Nigeria, represented by the firm of Trumann Rockwood Solicitors. I was privileged to appear as Lead Counsel in that suit.”

“Although established in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) as an agency of the Executive, the Tribunal is also a quasi-judicial body with a narrow scope and limited jurisdiction. The Tribunal is subject to the rule of law and is bound to observe the principles of Natural Justice and Fair Hearing. It is trite that justice must not only be done, it must manifest and be seen to have been done. The Tribunal should not place itself in a situation where the confidence reposed in it by the public to do justice is eroded.”

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