The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has kicked against the new Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 2020 signed by President Muhammadu Buhari. According to CAMA, religious bodies and charity organisations will be regulated by the Registrar-General of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and a supervising minister.
In a statement by Adebayo Oladeji, special assistant on media and communications to Samson Ayokunle, CAN president, the association said the law is “unacceptable, ungodly, reprehensible and an ill-wind that blows no one any good”.
The Christian Association of Nigeria has submitted that the church cannot be controlled by the government and that the government does not have the technical expertise to run the church. The statement added that the association is not against the government’s fight against corruption, however, it vehemently rejects the idea of bringing the church under its control.
The statement partly reads as follows:
“In Nigeria, people’s religions are tied to their humanity and of course, their life adding that the satanic section of the controversial and ungodly law is Section 839 (1) &(2) which empowers the Commission to suspend trustees of an association (in this case, the church) and appoint the interim managers to manage the affairs of the association for some given reasons.
“The Church cannot be controlled by the government because of its spiritual responsibilities and obligations. We recall that during the First Term of the President, there was a Public Hearing conducted by the National Assembly on the Non- Governmental Organisations Bill tagged ‘Bill for an Act To Provide For The Establishment Of The Non-Governmental Organizations Regulatory Commission For The Supervision, Co-ordination And Monitoring Of Non Governmental Organizations’ which was attended by CAN and many NGOs.
“At the Public Hearing, the Bill that sought to bring the religious organizations and NGOs under the control and influence of the government was totally rejected 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.
“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? For example, 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. Let the government 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 you cannot give us good amenities of life, we would not allow you to take away our liberty to worship our Maker.
“We call on all well meaning Nigerians to ask the Federal Government to suspend the law because we do not need it in this nation.”
Leave a Reply