Justice Nnamdi Dimgba of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on friday 16th November 2018 dismissed a suit seeking to legalize the formation of a Lesbian Association in Nigeria.
The case with SUIT NO: FHC/ABJ/CS/827/2018 was filed by Pamela Adie against Corporate Affairs Commission.
The Applicant, Pamela Adie, sometime in October 2017 founded “Lesbian Equality and Empowerment Initiatives” whose objective was primarily to advocate for the rights of same sex sexual orientation people.
The Applicant in a quest to register the association applied to the Respondent, Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC, through her solicitor, Fajenyo Kayode for the reservation of the name “Lesbian Equality and Empowerment Initiatives”.
The Respondent declined to approve the proposed name on the ground that it was misleading and contrary to public policy.
The Applicant through her lawyer Mike Enahoro-Ebah petitioned, albeit unsuccessfully, the Registrar General of the Respondent to rescind its earlier decision rejecting the name.
Based on the refusal of the Respondent to approve the proposed name the Applicant applied to the Court for redress.
The Respondent contends that the name sought to be registered by the Applicant cannot be approved because it is misleading, offensive, contrary to public policy and violates an existing law that prohibits same-sex marriage in Nigeria.
The parties approached the federal high court to determine the true position of things.
Justice Dimgba in his Judgment refused the prayers of the applicant and dismissed the applicant suit.
The court held that in so far as the Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act is still much operative in Nigeria and has not been repealed, the right to form same sex and gay unions and associations is prohibited and CAC is right to have rejected the application for being in contravention of public policy and morality
