The Ministry of the Interior has refuted reports that the Federal High Court in Lagos has declared all marriages performed by the Ikoyi marriage registry to be illegal and invalid.
The Permanent Secretary and Principal Registrar of Marriages, Ministry of Interior, branded the reports as “false, misleading and a deliberate distortion of the decision of the Court in Suit No: FHC/L/CS/816/18 between Eti-Osa Local Government Council & 3 others” in a statement released Tuesday evening.
The court only ruled that the Federal Government, through the Ministry of Interior, is constitutionally empowered to conduct marriages in Nigeria, and that the Local Governments were only delegated to conduct marriages by the Federal Government through Legal Notices issued pursuant to the Marriage Act.
The trial judge held that nothing in the role of local governments, as defined in the Constitution, suggests that they can conduct or contract marriages, contrary to their (local government’s) pleading. However, the President’s Legal Notices are the only source of authority.
