Kaka Youth Leadership Crisis Heads to Federal High Court as 13 Members Challenge Executives

The leadership crisis within the Kaka Youth Development Association (KYDA) has taken a legal turn after 13 members of the association approached the Federal High Court in Jalingo to challenge the emergence of a disputed national executive.

The case centres on disagreements over the association’s electoral process, interpretation of its constitution and the legitimacy of the leadership that emerged following a prolonged dispute over how new executives should be elected.

Court documents show that the suit, marked FHC/JAL/CS/40/2026, was instituted by Wazabwa Ditah and 12 other members against the Incorporated Trustees of the Kaka Youth Development Association, Professor Jacob Ngyanji, Chairman of the association’s Board of Trustees, and four other defendants.

The applicants are asking the court to intervene in the leadership dispute and grant several orders, including an interlocutory injunction restraining some of the defendants from running or interfering with the affairs of the association pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.

The legal action represents a significant escalation of a disagreement that had developed within the association over the process of electing a new national leadership.

According to the applicants’ account contained in court documents, the Kaka Youth Development Association is registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission and operates under a constitution adopted in 2021.

The applicants maintain that the constitution provides for a single four-year tenure for members of the National Executive Council.

They traced the current disagreement to developments following the expiration of the tenure of the previous national executive headed by Samson T. Chenor in 2025.

According to their claims, the previous executive completed its tenure without constituting an electoral committee to conduct elections for a successor leadership.

The applicants said members subsequently held a congress meeting at Nurses House in Jalingo on August 17, 2025, where they agreed to constitute a caretaker and electoral committee to temporarily manage the association and organise elections within three months.

Following the decision, nomination forms were reportedly produced for interested members. Aspirants purchased the forms, underwent screening and were cleared to contest various positions.

However, disagreement later emerged over the voting system to be adopted for the election.

The court documents indicate that the dispute centred on whether the association should conduct its election through universal suffrage or adopt a delegate voting system.

The applicants maintain that the association’s constitution recognises universal suffrage, allowing qualified members to vote and also contest for elective positions.

They alleged that another group favoured a delegate system, leading to disagreement that eventually disrupted the planned election.

The applicants further contend that a subsequent process through which another set of executives emerged was not conducted by the electoral committee constituted by the association’s congress.

According to their allegations, some of the defendants later participated in another leadership process held at Fast Track Hotel in Jalingo, where a different set of executives reportedly emerged.

It is this development, among other issues, that has now become the subject of litigation before the Federal High Court.

As part of their application, the 13 members are seeking an order restraining the fourth, fifth and sixth defendants from presenting themselves as President, Vice President and Secretary-General of the association respectively until the substantive suit is determined.

They are also asking the court to restore the affairs of the Kaka Youth Development Association to what they described as the status quo ante bellum pending the resolution of the case.

Another relief being sought relates to the administration of the association’s WhatsApp group. The applicants want administrative control of the platform restored to its former administrators while the leadership dispute remains unresolved.

The supporting affidavit in the matter was deposed to by Ngezack Cletus, one of the applicants, at the Federal High Court Registry in Jalingo on July 17, 2026.

The court action has also brought an earlier media report concerning the association’s leadership into the proceedings.

According to the court papers, a Taraba News report published on July 9, 2026, concerning the inauguration of the association’s 2026 executives at Fast Track Hotel in Jalingo, was attached to the applicants’ documents and identified as Exhibit C.

The inclusion of the publication forms part of the materials presented by the applicants in support of their account of events surrounding the disputed leadership process.

However, the attachment of the report and other documents does not amount to a judicial determination of the claims against the defendants. The allegations remain the position of the applicants and will be subject to examination by the court.

The defendants are equally entitled to present their responses, evidence and legal arguments as the proceedings continue.

The dispute has therefore moved beyond an internal disagreement over the leadership of a youth association and entered a stage where questions surrounding the organisation’s constitution, electoral procedures and administrative authority may require judicial interpretation.

At the heart of the case is the question of whether the process that produced the disputed executives complied with the association’s constitution and whether those currently exercising leadership authority emerged through a valid process.

The court may also be required to consider the authority of the congress, the role of the electoral committee and the extent to which different organs of the association can exercise powers during a leadership transition.

The eventual determination of the case could have wider implications for the internal administration of the Kaka Youth Development Association.

Beyond deciding the immediate disagreement, a judicial interpretation of the association’s constitution could provide clearer guidance on how future elections should be organised and how leadership transitions should be handled.

For an association representing the interests of young people within the Kaka community, resolving the disagreement could also be important for restoring confidence, strengthening internal cohesion and allowing the organisation to concentrate on its broader objectives.

The court process provides an opportunity for the competing claims to be examined through established legal procedures rather than allowing the disagreement to remain an unresolved internal struggle.

Until the Federal High Court determines the substantive issues, however, the claims contained in the applicants’ filings remain allegations and should not be treated as established findings against any of the defendants.

The leadership dispute has now entered a decisive legal phase, with attention turning to the Federal High Court in Jalingo for clarification of the competing claims over the association’s electoral process and national leadership.