Who’s Afraid of Azuka Azinge? By Ebenezer Amadi

At the start of the Christmas holiday, the media was awash with news of how the acting Registrar General of the Corporate Affairs Commission, Lady Azuka Azinge had been taken before the Code of Conduct Tribunal in the most recent attempt to tarnish the acting Registrar who happens to be the first female Registrar General and also the first Registrar General who is not from the northern part of Nigeria since the creation of the Corporate Affairs Commission by the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 1990.

Earlier in the trial, Lady Azinge’s Lawyers had requested for an adjournment on grounds of ill health however, the Tribunal, after visiting the ailing acting RG who was on admission in the hospital, adjourned the case by 2 working days.

The Urgency

The Code of Conduct Tribunal which was established by the Constitution to provide a record of the assets of public servants as a check against unjust enrichement has recently been “allegedly” weaponized by some elements in the current administration as the ultimate ‘take-down’ tool. For those who are in doubt, ask the immediate past Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen – but that is a conversation for another day.

Many watchers began to ask questions about the sudden urgency in the Azinge case that required a Tribunal that habitually sits late, sometimes more than 3 hours late, to adjourn a matter on the basis of health grounds – which the Tribunal acknowledged – by a few days.
What is it about this woman that some people are in a hurry to pull her down. This is the same woman who reduced the business registration time from one month to a few days. Under her leadership the time for name approval was shortened from two weeks to about 4 hours. She made sure that business registration was reduced to 24 hours. She expanded the online registration to all the States of the Federation so that people can now register their businesses from the comfort of their homes and businesses.

She successfully implemented the Business Incentive Strategy under which cost of business registration was reduced by 50%. She also cleared the backlog of arrears owed to Staff since 2013 and restored industrial harmony at the CAC which until she came on board was always having strikes.

In return she is rewarded with petitions and complaints aimed at removing her at all costs. Why are high performers a threat to the mediocre cabal? In saner climes, She would be recognized and encouraged with greater responsibilities.

The Christmas Gift

It now appears that the Tribunal has once again scored an own-goal by granting an ex parte order rumoured to have been signed over the holiday- purportedly removing the acting Registrar General. The purported order is dated 17th December, 2019- before Lady Azinge had even appeared before the Tribunal! Is this the Rule of Law that we voted in? If the application was ready that early, why not file it on notice or bring it to the attention of the Defendant? Why would the Tribunal choose to serve the Minister of Trade and Investment who is not a party to the Tribunal Proceedings?

This is even when there are rumours that Lady Azinge has already filed an action in Court challenging the machinations of the CCT? The same CCT whose Chairman was fingered in alleged corruption in a criminal matter prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

How is it that the person who is accused of corruption continues to occupy his office while the person who is accused of not declaring a dormant account is asked to step aside? Even if we are in a banana republic there must be a limit to this irony.
When did we abandon issues of substance to chase issues of form? The legal doctrine of abuse of process protects citizens from a wrongful usage of a judicial procedure. Where is the protection for Lady Azinge?
This bears an eerie resemblance to the strange procedure adopted in the case of the former Chief Justice of Nigeria. Has this become the new format now? The time has come for the Courts to stand up for the rule of law and due process in this country.

The question really lies as to whether the CCT can issue such an order which also appears prejudicial to the outcome of the main suit? There are more questions than answers because apparently the ghosts of Onnoghen have not been put to rest.

I am calling on the compassionate Attorney General of the Federation to look into this matter.
I am calling on the government of the United States of America and other international partners to step into this matter.

At the end of the day, the most pertinent question is who will be next? I will ask again, Who is afraid of Lady Azuka Azinge?

Ebenezer is a Corporate and Commercial Lawyer who practices in Lagos, Abia and FCT, Abuja.

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