Court dismisses suit seeking to sack NATA president

A Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a few Nigeria Automobile Technicians Association members against the Magaji Sani-led organization.

According to Judge Mobolaji Olajuwon, the plaintiffs filed their lawsuit beyond the legally permitted time frame.

All of the association’s board of trustee members were replaced in 2014 by Michael Omonayi, the association’s former president, who was elected in 2013.

This didn’t go down well with some members of the association.

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The aggrieved members of the association on February 12, 2019, instituted at the federal high court in Osogbo, where it was later transferred to Abuja.

At the time, Sani had become the president and in 2021 re-elected by members loyal to him but he was a product of the said BoT.

The aggrieved members in their suit alleged that the replacement of all the BoT members without a resolution at the national delegate conference was unconstitutional.

They, however, urged the court to declare the sack of the BoT members as null and void.
It partly read, “Declaration that the replacement of all Trustees without a resolution at the National Delegate Conference as a precondition of appointing new trustees of the Plaintiffs’ Association is unlawful, illegal, unconstitutional null and void, and ultra-vires the Defendants.

“A declaration that the purported replacement of all the Trustees of the Plaintiff without publication in a prescribed form in a daily newspaper circulating in Lagos and a national newspaper is ultra-vires the powers and functions of the “Defendant and, therefore, unconstitutional, illegal, arbitrary, reckless, null and void and of no effect whatsoever.

” An Order of this court setting aside all steps taken so far by the Defendants to replace all the Trustees. ”

Delivering judgment on the matter on Monday, Justice Olajuwon held that the case was not filed within the 28 days allowed by the law.

“The plaintiffs have a right to raise objections to the appointment of the trustee but they ought to done so within 28 days when the replacement of the BoT members,” the judge held.

The judge subsequently dismissed the suit.

The Nigeria Automobile Technicians Association is a national professional body of micro, small, and medium-scale auto repairers in the informal economy.