Godwin Tsa, Abuja

The Youth Wing of the Christian Association of Nigeria (YOWICAN) has dragged the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) to court over the tenure of its Chairman.

In the suit marked CV /0672/18, National Chairman of YOWICAN, Daniel Kadzai dragged the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), it’s National Director, Education, Youth and Women Development, Elder Biodun Sanyaolu and the National Legal Adviser of CAN, Samuel Kwamkur before a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), in Gwagwalada.

In the Originating Summons dated January 18, 2018 and filed by Gideon Kuttu, Kadzai is challenging the attempt terminate his tenure in office as the National Chairman of YOWICAN, when his tenure has not yet expired.
It is his contention before the court that he was elected into office of the chairman of YOWICAN and took oath of office on November 11, 2015, for a term of three years, which will terminate on November 11, 2018 and not January 2018.

He wanted the court to determine whether it is not the date/day of taking of oath of office/inauguration of himself and his national executives that is reckoned with (rather than the day of election) in the computation and determination of the plaintiff and his national executives in arriving at when the three years tenure of office begin to run.

The court is further called upon to determine whether having regard to the fact that the plaintiff and his national executives took oath of office on November 11, 2015 is the plaintiff and his national executives not entitled to enjoy the full tenure of three years in office as prescribed by custom, convention and Article 14 of CAN’s constitution 2004 dully subscribed to by YOWICAN.

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Whether the defendants can lawfully abridge the tenure of three years prescribed by the CAN’s constitution 2004 for a person such as the plaintiff and his national executives duly elected and sworn to/inaugurated on November 11, 2015 by scheming, planning, scheduling and organising the conduct of elections into the plaintiff’s and other national executives on January 28. 2018.

Will the plaintiff and his national executives officers not be legally entitled to insist on remaining in their various elective offices up till November 11, 2018 instead of January 28, 2018 to which the defendants jointly and severally want to forcefully and unlawfully terminate a three years tenure.

Whether the plaintiff will not be deprived of his ten months unexpired tenure of offices should the defendants be allowed to conduct elections into his office on January 28, 2018.

He asked the court for an order declaring that the three years tenure of office of the plaintiff as the national chairman, YOWICAN began to run from the date he took the oath of office being November 11, 2015 and terminates only on November 11, 2015.

An order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendants by themselves, their agents, servants assign, privies, cohorts, any electoral committee or howsoever from in any way conducting any election for the office of the national chairman YOWICAN and or other national elective office of YOWICAN until the expiration of a period of three years from November 11, 2015 and terminates on November 11, 2018 when the plaintiff and his national elected executives’ tenure of office will expire.

Meanwhile, Justice Balami, has fixed February 22 to rule on a motion seeking to stop the defendants from taking steps that would jeopardise the tenure of the plaintiff.