Court Orders CAC to Restore NYCN Registration, Reinstate Sukubo’s Board of Trustees

A Federal High Court in Abuja has mandated the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) to restore the registration of the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN). The court's order also includes the reinstatement of Ambassador Sukubo Sara-Igbe Sukubo and other members of the NYCN's Board of Trustees, effectively disbanding the interim management committee previously appointed by the CAC and the Ministry of Youths Development.

Justice Binta Nyako, delivering the judgment, stated that the CAC, as a regulatory body, does not possess the legal authority to dictate the tenure of organizational leaders or to establish interim management committees for registered associations. The ruling stems from the CAC's withdrawal of the NYCN's registration certificate on October 6, 2025, followed by the establishment of a nine-member interim committee led by Buhari Shehu the next day.

Ambassador Sukubo, serving as NYCN President and Secretary of the Board of Trustees, along with another individual, had filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of the CAC's actions. They questioned whether the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 2020 provisions, which empower the CAC to suspend trustees and appoint interim managers, align with constitutional guarantees of freedom of association and the Federal High Court's jurisdiction. The plaintiffs also argued that previous court decisions invalidating certain CAMA sections rendered the CAC's actions unlawful.

Furthermore, the lawsuit challenged the validity of decisions affecting the NYCN's trusteeship while an appeal in a related case was pending. The plaintiffs described the communiqué announcing the deregistration and the creation of the interim committee as unconstitutional and void.

In her judgment, Justice Nyako affirmed that the CAC had overstepped its mandate by deregistering the NYCN and subsequently forming an interim arrangement. Consequently, the court nullified the deregistration, ordered the restoration of the NYCN's certificate, recognized Ambassador Sukubo and the other registered trustees as the legitimate leadership, and mandated the dissolution of the interim committee.

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So, having disposed of all the objections, I will now look at the substantive application. Having considered the processes filed by the parties, I am of the