At last, the apex authority of the Christian body in Nigeria, the Christian Association of Nigeria has responded to the amendment of the Company and Allied Matters Act 2020 which tactfully placed Church and other religious institutions in the country under government control.
In a reaction and a press release Rev. Bayo Oladeji, the Special Assistant on Media and Communications to CAN President, Dr. Samson Ayokunle, noted that by this move the Federal Government has declared war on the Church if it moved on to implement the law.
President Muhammadu Buhari had on August 7 signed into law, the Companies and Allied Matters Bill which was passed by the National Assembly to replace the Company and Allied Matters Decree of 1990.
The body described as “satanic,” section 839 (1) and (2) of the law which empowers the supervising minister to suspend trustees of an association (in this case, the Church) and appoint interim managers to manage the affairs of the association for some given reasons.
The statement titled, ‘Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) rejects CAMA Completely,’ said that the law, “to say the least, is unacceptable, ungodly, reprehensible, and an ill-wind that blows no one any good. It is a time bomb waiting to explode.”
“The leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria rejects outrightly the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 2020 that was assented to by President Muhammadu Buhari recently.”
The Christian body explained that the Bill which sought to bring the religious organizations and NGOs under the control and influence of the government ‘was totally rejected during the public hearing because it would snuff life out of the church and rank the church as a secular institution under secular control.
“We thought it was all over until we heard of the CAMA that was assented to by the President, making the rejected bill a law, the statement added.
“While we are not against the government fighting corruption wherever it may be found, yet we completely reject the idea of bringing the church, which is technically grouped among the NGOs, under control of the government. The Church cannot be controlled by the government because of its spiritual responsibilities and obligations,” CAN said.
Continuing, the statement added: “How can the government sack the trustee of a church which it contributed no dime to establish? How can a secular and political minister be the final authority on the affairs and management of another institution which is not political? How can a non-Christian head of government ministry be the one to determine the running of the church? It is an invitation to trouble that the government does not have power to manage.
“This is why we are calling on the Federal government to stop the implementation of the obnoxious and ungodly law until the religious institutions are exempted from it. We call on President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently return the law to the National Assembly for immediate amendment.
CAN noted that Nigeria should not be compared with any other nation when it comes to the relationship between religious institutions and the government as “people’s religions are tied to their humanity and of course, their life in Nigeria.”
The body advised the government to “face the business of providing infrastructure for the people. Let them focus on better health provision, food, education, adequate security employment, etc. The government should not be a busy body in a matter that does not belong to it. The government does not have the technical expertise to run the Church of God because of its spiritual nature.”
“If the government is bent on imposing a law on us which the entire Church in Nigeria is against, then, they have declared war on Christianity and the agenda to destroy the Church which we have spoken against before now is coming to the open more clearly. If you cannot give us good amenities of life, we would not allow you to take away our liberty to worship our Maker,” CAN vowed.
It then called on all well meaning ‘Nigerians to ask the Federal Government to suspend the law because we do not need it in this nation.’
Earlier, the presiding Bishop of The Living Faith Church, Bishop David Oyedepo had called then attention of members of his Church and the general public to the controversial aspect of the law, which an aide of the president Loretta Onochie called on the man of God to either obey the law or create his own country.
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