By Christopher Deborah
According to Sonnie Ekwowusi, the Chairman of the African Bar Association’s Human and Constitutional Rights Committee, a measure to control the practice of Christianity in Nigeria is poised to pass under the present Bola Tinubu administration.
In an interview with Arise Tv news, he stated that the Bill will mandate that priests and pastors obtain licenses before assuming the pulpit to preach.
He mentioned that a council in Abuja is considering passing the bill. He claims that the bill transgresses the rights of religion as stated in section 38 of the 1999 constitution.
He claimed that the state and Christianity are two distinct entities that do not coexist in the same way.
He said, ”The function of this council in Abuja is to regulate the Christianity religion. Pastors and Priests will need to have a license before they can preach. This means that if you are holding a Christian crusade in Lagos and you don’t have a license from this council, they will shut it down. And we are saying this is not proper. So Pastors will have to be certified and trained by this council, I mean this is not acceptable in a Democratic Nation.”
