A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Bolaji Ayorinde has threatened to sue the Registrar General of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Hussaini Ishaq Magaji, SAN, over an alleged defamatory publication against the Nigerian Law Society (NLS).
Ayorinde is the current Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the NLS, a professional association of lawyers whom the CAC Registrar has accused of operating without registration.
The Registrar General of the CAC had previously written to the Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, seeking approval to prosecute the Nigerian Law Society and other corporate entities operating without registration in the country as reported by Daily trust.
Ayorinde, in the letter, written on 12th August and acknowledged on the 16th August by the CAC noted that he was the first plaintiff in suit no. FHC/ABJ/CS/482/2023 between Chief Bolaji Ayorinde, SAN, OFR and 5 others vs Corporate Affairs Commission decided on 15th December 2023.
He had accused the CAC of refusing to register the NLS even when ordered by the court. According to the letter, CAC had appealed the judgement but failed to secure any order to stay the direction in the judgement.
Ayorinde accused the CAC Registrar General of misleading the public by “deliberately” failing to make any reference to the previous judgement in December 2023.
Ayorinde has asked the Registrar General to issue a public letter of apology to retract and correct the defamatory publication which are untrue and misleading.
He warned that if the retracting is not published within 7 days of the receipt of the letter, he would have no other choice than to sue the CAC Registrar General.
Furthermore, he shall seek monetary damages from both the Registrar General and CAC to the sum of 5 billion naira.
The CAC registrar however has responded to the letter that while the commission had appealed the judgement, the NLS was still operating illegally. Citing section 863 (1) and (2) of the companies and allied matters act 2020, the NLS was in violation of operation without registration and is liable to conviction or fine as prescribed by the commission’s regulations.
