The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has ordered the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) to immediately restore Ambassador Sukubo Sara-Igbe Sukubo and other members of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN), declaring the commission’s actions against the youth body unlawful.
Delivering judgment on Friday, Justice Binta Nyako held that the CAC lacked the statutory authority to determine the tenure of officials of a registered association or constitute an Interim Management Committee to oversee its affairs.
The court ruled that the commission exceeded its legal powers when it deregistered the National Youth Council of Nigeria and subsequently established an interim caretaker arrangement to manage the organisation.
Justice Nyako therefore nullified the deregistration of the NYCN and ordered a return to the status quo, directing the CAC to restore the council’s registration and recognise Ambassador Sukubo Sara-Igbe Sukubo and other duly registered trustees as the legitimate leadership of the Board of Trustees.
The court further ordered the immediate dissolution of the Interim Management Committee constituted by the commission, affirming that the action had no legal foundation.
According to the judgment, regulatory agencies must operate strictly within the powers granted to them by law and cannot interfere in the internal leadership affairs of associations beyond their statutory mandate.
The ruling effectively restores the previous leadership structure of the National Youth Council of Nigeria and reaffirms the authority of the Sukubo-led Board of Trustees pending any further legal proceedings.
The judgment is expected to have significant implications for youth leadership and governance within the NYCN, one of Nigeria’s foremost youth umbrella organisations.