By BONIFACE AKARAH

A group of disability rights advocates has asked the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) to recognise the 2008 constitution of the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities of Nigeria (JONAPWD-National) as its only valid governing document and halt a proposed convention in Kaduna scheduled for October 2026.

The demand was contained in an emergency legal petition dated October 9, 2026, addressed to the Registrar-General of the CAC, Hussaini Ishaq Magaji, and signed by Lady Omotunde Ellen Thompson, Chief Eric Ndubueze Ufom and Brigadier General Dr. Lonsdale Oladeji Adeoye (Rtd.), who described themselves as pioneers of Nigeria’s disability rights movement.

The petitioners argued that the association’s governance crisis stemmed from the use of a constitution they alleged had never been formally filed or approved by the CAC.

They maintained that the 2008 constitution, which they said was registered on July 9, 2008, and certified on August 10, 2018, remained the only valid governing charter in the commission’s records.

“Official records of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) confirm that the 2008 JONAPWD Constitution (registered July 9, 2008; certified August 10, 2018) is the sole valid governing charter of the association on CAC files,” the petition stated.

According to the petitioners, the disputed document titled “June 2004 (as amended, September 2011)” introduced a six-delegate rule, contrary to the five-delegate provision they said was contained in the registered constitution.

They cited Section 600 of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 2020, arguing that any alteration not properly filed was void.

The group also referred to a September 25, 2023, judgment of the Cross River State High Court in Suit No. HC/336/2022, presided over by Justice Ayade E. Ayade, which they said declared the disputed 2011 text invalid.

The petitioners described the judgment as central to their demand for the suspension of activities organised under the disputed constitution.

“Under Section 600 of CAMA 2020, any un-filed alteration is void ab initio,” they stated, adding that the court had described the disputed document as a “worthless paper.”

They further argued that elections conducted in 2014, 2018 and 2022 under the disputed constitution, as well as claims to leadership by individuals they named in the petition, should be treated as legally invalid.

The advocates asked the CAC to issue an administrative notice affirming the 2008 constitution as the valid document on record and take steps to stop the proposed Kaduna convention.

They also called for an emergency inter-agency oversight committee chaired by Justice Ayade, with representatives of relevant government agencies, lawyers and the legitimate board of trustees they identify in the petition.

“We count on your prompt, forceful enforcement of CAMA statutory provisions to uphold the rule of law, protect 40 million citizens with disabilities, and safeguard national security,” the petitioners said.

The group said Its demands were intended to protect the governance structures and institutional legacy of disability rights advocates who, it claimed, had spent more than 27 years campaigning for legal protections and public institutions serving persons with disabilities.

The petition was copied to President Bola Tinubu, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the Attorney-General of the Federation, the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities and several security and anti-corruption agencies.

The CAC was asked to intervene in the dispute under the provisions of CAMA 2020 and the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act 2018.