The Federal Government has debunked the viral stories claiming that a Federal High Court has shut down the Ikoyi Marriage Registry.
Explaining what actually happened to the registry, the Director of Legal, Federal Ministry of Interior, Bola Odugbesan, said that the court simply upheld the judgment of a Federal High Court delivered in 2002 which was not appealed.
Speaking in an interview with Punch, Odugbesan said: “In the case, the court was invited to interpret the provisions of the Constitution conferring on local governments, the powers to register marriages. The Minister of Interior, through his Counsel, Bola Odugbesan, argued that under item 61 of the Exclusive List, matters connected with marriage under the Marriage Act, issuing of marriage certificate and its registration are outside the purview of state and/or local governments.”
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