Justice Nnamdi Dimgba of a Federal High Court in Abuja, has dismissed a suit challenging non-registration of a same sex group by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), for lacking in merit.
The plaintiff, Pamela Adie, in the court papers, said that sometime in October 2017, she founded the “Lesbian Equality and Empowerment Initiatives” whose objective was primarily to advocate for the rights of same sex sexual orientation people but that her quest to register the association at the CAC, through her counsel, Fajenyo Kayode, was declined. She then filed a motion challenging the decision of the commission to decline the registration of the association.
In his judgment which was delivered last Friday November 16th, Justice Dimgba held that the decision of CAC refusing to register the group was in compliance with 30 (1) (c) of the Companies And Allied Matters Act (CAMA) Cap C20 Laws of Federation of Nigeria 2004.
“It is my view that where either the proposed name of the company or its aims and objectives are caught by the provisions of Section 30 (1) (c) of CAMA, the respondent is duly empowered to reject such an application for reservation of name or registration as it has done in this case.
“Section 30 (1) (c) of CAMA reads: “No company shall be registered under this Act by a name which- (c) in the opinion of the Commission is capable of being misleading as to the nature or extent of its activities or is undesirable, offensive or otherwise contrary to public policy.” the judge said
Recall that in January 2014, the Anti-Gay law which proffers 14-year jail term for anyone caught in any act of same sex, was assented to by former president Goodluck Jonathan.
