The Federal Government of Nigeria on Wednesday, declared most Nigerian marriages as “illegal” saying only 314 worship centres across the country have licence to conduct weddings under the statutory Marriage Act.
This position was made known by the permanent secretary, ministry of interior, Barr. Georgina Ehuriah while speaking at a one-day stakeholders’ conference on conduct of statutory marriages in accordance with the Marriage Act cap, M6, LFN 2004 as amended.
Ehuriah revealed that 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 licenses
Her words, “At present, 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 licenses.
“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.”
Barr. Ehuriah further disclosed that the Interior ministry already has a database of all places of worship licensed for marriages, and is currently building a database of all statutory marriages conducted in Nigeria.