The National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) has said that any purported withdrawal of its certificate of incorporation is not only unlawful but constitutes a direct affront to the authority of the courts.
Its President, Amb. Sukubo Sara-Igbe Sukubo in a statement issued Thursday also frowned at the purported appointment of an interim Management Team by the Federal Ministry of Youth Development and the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) respectively.
He said: “The attention of the leadership and members of the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) has been drawn to the recent publication on the withdrawal of registration certificate of the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) and the purported appointment of interim Management Team by the Federal Ministry of Youth Development and the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) respectively.
“We wish to recall and reaffirm that pursuant to the judgment of Hon. Justice D.U. Okorowo of the Federal High Court, in Suit No: FHC/ABJ/CS/1553/2022 between Incorporated Trustees of National Youth Council of Nigeria & 4ors vs Corporate Affairs Commission & 3ors, which challenged the incorporation certificate that is now in issue, the leadership of the NYCN under Ambassador Sukubo Sara-Igbe Sukubo was duly recognised and affirmed as the legitimate and lawfully constituted leadership of the Council and the incorporation certificate was upheld.”
Sukubo noted that the same matter is now a subject of appeal in Appeal No:CA/ABJ/CV/13081/2023, wherein both the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and the Federal Ministry of Youth Development are parties/respondents.
He added: “In view of the subsisting judgment and the ongoing appellate proceeding, any purported withdrawal, appointment, suspension, or tampering with the NYCN’s certificate of incorporation is not only unlawful but constitutes a direct affront to the authority of the courts.
“The law is clear that no individual, groups, and government agencies have the power to override or pre-empt the decisions of a competent court of law.”
Sukubo stressed that the current actions by the duo Registrar General and the Minister of Youths was a classical case of resort to self-help.
The youth body, therefore, urged all members of the NYCN, state chapters, zonal leaders, affiliate bodies, and teeming Nigerian youths to disregard any publication, pronouncement, or action emanating from persons, groups, or agencies purporting to dissolve, suspend, or replace the current leadership.
Sukubo insisted that the judgment of the Federal High Court which validated the incorporation certificate of NYCN remained valid and subsisting until it is set aside by a higher court.
“The leadership of Amb. Sukubo Sara-Igbe Sukubo, therefore, remains sacrosanct, legitimate, and binding in law and, in fact,” he said.