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By Tracy Moses
Over 3,000 members of the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) on Thursday stormed the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) headquarters in Abuja to protest the Commission’s recent decision to withdraw the registration certificate of the Council.
Addressing journalists during the protest, the NYCN Secretary-General, Barrister Abubakar Suleiman, accused the Registrar-General of CAC, Hussaini Ishaq Magaji (SAN), of acting in bad faith and sabotaging President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda by delisting the Council despite a pending case before the Court of Appeal.
According to him, “Today, thousands of Nigerian youths have gathered here to express their outrage over the unlawful and arbitrary actions of the CAC Registrar-General. Nigeria is a nation governed by law, not by personal whims. The National Youth Council of Nigeria, the recognized umbrella body for all youth organizations in the country, was duly registered under the Corporate Affairs Commission.”
He continued, “To our shock, just two days ago, CAC issued a publication announcing the withdrawal of NYCN’s certificate of incorporation and the constitution of a caretaker committee to run our affairs. This is a clear case of contempt of court, as the matter is already before the Court of Appeal, with CAC as a party to the suit.”
Suleiman explained that the Federal High Court had earlier ruled in favour of NYCN, affirming that the Commission lacked the authority to delist the body. “Despite that judgment, the Registrar-General went ahead to remove the NYCN from CAC’s records and appointed a committee, an action that not only disregards the judiciary but also assaults the principles of justice and due process,” he said.
The NYCN Secretary-General described the move as an attack on the ideals of the current administration. “We see this as a deliberate attempt to undermine President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda. The RG is an employee of the presidency, yet he is working against the very government he represents. We are saying it loud and clear, the RG must go. Nigerian youths will not stand by and watch this level of impunity,” he declared.
Suleiman vowed that the protests would continue nationwide until the Registrar-General is removed from office. “This is only the beginning. For the next 30 days, we will sustain this action across the 36 states and the FCT. Our members in all 774 local government areas are mobilised to occupy every CAC office in the country. The protest will not stop until justice is done,” he vowed.
He also accused the CAC leadership of several administrative irregularities, including secret recruitments and abuse of due process.
“The same Registrar-General who has a pending case before the Court of Appeal has gone ahead to delist NYCN without legal justification, even after the Federal High Court ruled in our favour. As a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, one would expect him to act with integrity and respect for the law. Instead, we are witnessing open impunity and disregard for judicial authority,” Suleiman added.
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