Justice Saliann Scarpulla
Ochiagha, in his capacity as chairman of Peoples Club of Nigeria International (PCNI), a non-profit international organization, moved for injunctive relief. PCNI’s executive committee informed Ochiagha that he must suspend any election of officers at PCNI’s New York offices until the arrival of delegates to resolve conflicts and issues due to Ochiagha’s alleged continued violation of PCNI’s constitution, rules and regulations. Ochiagha ignored the letter and held the election, in which he was re-elected as chairman. Due to his failure to abide by the directive, plaintiffs were suspended from PCNI-NY. Ochiagha argued PCNI’s president, Onwuachu, did not have authority to suspend the elections for PCNI-NY. The court stated it did not find that the business judgment rule precluded its intervention as discovery had not yet been conducted, and there were allegations of bad faith on Ochiagha’s part. However, the court concluded that plaintiffs failed to submit sufficient evidence to meet their burden of proving a likelihood of success on the merits, the prospect of irreparable injury if relief was not granted, or that the balance of equities tipped in their favor. Thus, their order to show cause for a preliminary injunction was denied.
