The Law demands that every organisation ,including churches be registered as even the Bible enjoins us to obey civil authorities. It is important that churches must comply with government regulations concerning registration.
Secondly ,registration and trusteeship are necessary for a church to be a legal entity in order to own immovable property(ies) and bank account(s).
Well,this work is majorely aimed at enlightening educating church Pastors/members/spiritual leaders on the dictates of the Nigerian Constitution and the requirement of the Corporate Affairs Commission(CAC) ,the statutory body responsible for company registration & allied matters.
Now on Registration shortly,Chapter 4 ,Section 38 & 40 of the Nigerian Constitution (1999) states:
38(1) Every Person shall be entitled to freedom of thought ,conscience and religion ,including freedom to change his religion or belief ,& freedom (either alone or in community with others ,and in public or in private ) to manifest and propagate his religion or belief in worship ,teaching, practice and observance.
(2) No Person attending any place of education shall be required to receive religious instruction or to take part in or attend any religious ceremony or observance if such instruction ,ceremony or observance relates to religion other than his own ,or religion not approved by his parent or guardian.
(3) No religious community or denomination shall be prevented from providing religious instructions for pupils of community or denomination in any place of education maintained wholly by the community or denomination.
(4) Every Person shall be entitled to assemble freely and associate with other persons ,and in particular he may form or belong to any political party ,trade unions or any other association for the protection of his interest ; provided that the provisions of the of the section shall not derogate from the powers conferred by this constitution on the Independent National Electoral Commission with respect to political parties in which the Commissioner does not accord recognition .
The quoted section guarantees the right to FREEDOM OF RELIGION & FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION without any hindrance ,consequently ,registration is not a requisite to the formation of a political or religious group( e.g churches , mosques ,shrines).People sharing political ideology do not have to REGISTER and seek permission to assemble ,same goes for people sharing RELIGIOUS beliefs. Of course it is not compulsory to belong to a registered political party unless one wants to contest election.
Religious bodies like churches need not register to propagate their religion,however churches planning to build new denominations must compulsorily register with the Corporate Affairs Commission(CAC) .
The law also requires that such religious groups or churches name board of trustees ,place a notice of the groups intent to organise in three national newspaper and send trustee information to the Corporate Affairs commission. If no objections are received ,the group can proceed with its meeting.
The main aim of this law was put into effect to stem the proliferation of new buildings in the absence of zoning laws,to resolve legal questions arising from disputes over church ownership and control ,to provide a single registry for government reference in the event that compensation is demanded following civil disturbances,and to allow for legal solemnization of marriage.
It is worthy of note to state that an unregistered body in Nigeria can not sue or be sued in its name and such bodies are not clothed with legal personalities.
I would advise churches or religious organisations to contact a Corporate Affairs Commission certified legal practitioner for the purpose of any registration of their religious body.
Umoru Theophilus Iko-ojo is Lagos based Legal Practitioner.
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