The Christian Association of Nigeria is aghast at the Federal Government’s insistence that places of worship must obtain their wedding license from th
The Christian Association of Nigeria is aghast at the Federal Government’s insistence that places of worship must obtain their wedding license from the Ministry of Interior before conducting weddings under the Marriage Act. CAN’s Legal Adviser, Samuel Kwamkur, said the Federal Government had an ulterior motive for insisting that churches must obtain licences from the Interior ministry.
Earlier, the Ministry of Interior said that statutory weddings conducted in places of worship that were not licensed by it were not legal. The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Interior, Georgina Ehuriah, had at a stakeholders’ conference on Wednesday last week, said “Presently, only about 4,689 licensed places of worship in Nigeria have updated their records with the Ministry of Interior of which only 314 have renewed their licences to conduct statutory marriages.”
“The implication of this is that marriages conducted in unlicensed places of worship are not in line with the Marriage Act and cannot serve legal purposes when the need arises and such unlicensed places of worship are operating contrary to Section 6(1) of the Marriage Act.”
She had said arrangements were going on to give couples whose certificates were not issued in line with the Act the opportunity to bring them to conformity.
The interior ministry spokesman, Mohammed Manga, explained why no mosque was on the list of worship centres that had licences to conduct weddings. According to Manga, the monogamous marriage, which is statutory, is regulated by the Marriage Act, 2004, while polygamous marriage preferred by Muslims falls under the Customary and Islamic Laws.
He stated, “Statutory marriage is an item under the exclusive list of the Federal Government, therefore no state House of Assembly can legislate on marriage except those contracted under the Customary Law or Islamic Law. A statutory marriage is defined as the voluntary union for life of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others. Thus, the procedure, the role and functions of key players in the conduct of statutory marriages are purely constitutional and guided by relevant laws i.e. Marriage Act Cap M6 of the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, as amended,” the spokesman explained.
He also said a wedding license obtained by the headquarters of a church was not applicable to its branches nationwide, explaining that the approval given to a place of worship does not cover its branches. He added that all branches must obtain their licences on merit but on the recommendations of their headquarters.
He said, “Although the celebration of monogamous marriage in Nigeria is regulated by the Marriage Act, such marriage is usually referred to as statutory marriage.
The ministry spokesman further stated, “If your place of worship is not listed, then the place of worship is not approved and licensed to conduct legal marriages in Nigeria under the Marriage Act CAP M6 LFN (2004) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
He further admonished intending couples to ensure that their place of worship was approved and licensed by the Ministry of Interior to conduct marriage.
However, the Legal Adviser of CAN, Kwamkur, who said he was aware that the relevant laws provided for churches to contract marriages, expressed concerns over the directive that churches must renew their wedding license. He argued that churches had been contracting marriages without any issues, noting that the new directive looked suspicious, adding that there might be an ulterior motive behind it. I don’t think it is something the Church can accept. If not for the purposes of travelling, I wonder why they are raising the issue.
“As a Church, we cannot be bound by what they are saying. We have our registration, guidelines and records as churches and we operate independently, so no government can coerce us. The validity of marriage should be beyond the validity of certificate. Why are they interested in Christianity? What about Islam? Where are they (mosques) collecting their certificates? Where are they registering their marriages? I don’t know why the government is focusing on these issues instead of developing the country. I think it is diversionary to cover for their lack of performance.”
On his part, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr Babatunde Fashanu, said it was an anomaly that the Federal Government, rather than the states which are closer to the people, was in charge of English-type marriage. Also, an Islamic scholar and lecturer at the Al-Hikma University, Ilorin, Ustaz Sanusi Lafiaji, said the government was overstepping its boundaries by seeking to regulate how weddings were conducted in worship centres.
