A legal challenge to the decision of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) was brought in 2022 by the plaintiff; Chizelu Emejulu who is also a legal practitioner, change maker and Executive Director of Minority Watch, after the Corporate Affairs Commission had refused to register the organization on the basis that the name “Minority Watch” is vague. The plaintiff argued that by refusing to register Minority Watch, the Corporate Affairs Commission violated his fundamental rights to freedom of assembly and of association.
 
The Corporate Affairs Commission argued in court that by virtue of section 852(1)(c) and (f) of the Companies and Allied Matters Act 2020 (CAMA), they are empowered to, in the interest of the general public and in accordance with the law, refuse to register an organization, and that the name Minority Watch is capable of misleading the general public as to its aims and objectives, hence their refusal to register it.
 
In his judgment, Hon. Justice A.O Faji of the Federal High Court, Lagos, on 7th July, 2023 held that ‘the word “minority” also seems to connote a part of a whole, i.e a smaller part of a whole. The name of the organization thus seems to me to be for the purpose of speaking up for a smaller part of the community. The goal sought to be achieved does not therefore, in my view, cast any questions as to the true nature and motive of its operations. On the contrary, it seems to me aimed at speaking for the voice of the voiceless in a pluralistic society’.
 
Most importantly, the court also ruled that ‘the words “Minority Watch” do not violate the provisions of section 852(1) of CAMA as to be refused as an available name’.
 
The court found that the refusal by the Corporate Affairs Commission to register Minority Watch is a violation of the fundamental rights of the plaintiff in that case, and therefore made an order of mandamus directing the Corporate Affairs Commission to proceed with the registration of Minority Watch.
 
For more information on our CAC challenge case, please read the certified true copy of the judgment in that case here.