Inibehe Effiong
Continued from Monday
The law is settled that freedom of
association includes the freedom not to belong to an association. In
the celebrated case of Agbai v. Okagbue (1991)7 NWLR (Pt. 204) 391, one
of the issues for determination was whether the respondent who objected
to membership of an age grade association on religious grounds could be
compelled to do so or could be deemed to be a member willy-nilly. The
respondent maintained that he was not a member of the age-grade and that
his religion as a Jehovah Witness forbade him to join. The Supreme
Court per WALI J.S.C. held:”The 1963 Constitution, Section 24(1)
guaranteed all Nigerian citizens freedom of conscience, thought and
religion. The respondent is entitled to hold to the tenet of his
religion, thought and conscience which prohibit him from joining the age
grade. Any custom that holds otherwise is contrary to the Constitution
and, therefore, null and void to that extent.”
Choice of a religious sect is a matter of personal convictions and conscience.
In the case of Theresa Nwafor Onwo v.
Oko (1996) 6 N.W.L.R. (pt. 456), 584 at 587, the applicant claimed
damages against the respondent for shaving her hair, assaulting and
locking her up as incidents of mourning for her late husband. According
to her, that offends her religious belief and devotion. Although the
trial court dismissed her application, the Court of Appeal allowed her
appeal.
It is on record that the Catholic Church
in Nigeria suspended her membership of the Christian Association of
Nigeria in September 2012.
The constitution does not place
restrictions on places where a person can manifest or propagate his
religion. On the contrary, Section 38 (1) of the 1999 Constitution
expressly allows for public manifestation and propagation of religion.
Therefore, the provisions of Section 9 of the bill which limits the
playing of all cassettes, CDs, Flash drive or any other communication
gadgets containing religious recordings to the inside of one’s house,
entrance porch, inside the Church and Mosque and any other designated
place of worship is unconstitutional, null, void and of no effect
whatsoever.
Going by the wordings of the bill, it
will be an offence, for example, for a person to play cassettes inside a
vehicle on the road in Kaduna State if the bill is passed into law.
This bill is not only unconstitutional but absurd.
Section 10 of the bill prohibits any
cassettes which contain “abusive language” against any person, religious
organisation or religious leaders (past or present). Strangely, there
is no definition of the phrase “abusive language” in the bill. The
consequence is that this provision is susceptible to mischievous
inferences which may invariably lead to the violation of the fundamental
right of the citizens to freedom of expression and the press under
Section 39 of the 1999 Constitution.
Another grave defect in the el-Rufai
bill is the vesting of summary jurisdiction to try violators (sic) of
the provisions of the bill in the Sharia Courts and Customary Courts.
The bill does not state specifically who is subject to these courts. If
we can logically infer that Muslims are the ones subjected to the Sharia
courts, can we equally infer that Christians are subject to the
Customary courts? Certainly not. Customary courts do not exercise
jurisdiction over Ecclesiastical matters. Unlike in Islam where there is
near parity between religion and customs/traditions, Christianity is
not fused with custom. It is indefensible for the Kaduna State
Government to seek to subject Christians to the jurisdiction of
Customary courts. Customs in most instances are inconsistent with the
tenets of the Christian faith.
It should be noted that the 1984 Edict
which Section 15 of the bill seeks to repeal came into force during the
military era. However, with the coming into force of the 1999
Constitution, the Edict became an existing law by virtue of Section 315
(1) (b) of the 1999 Constitution and is deemed to be a law made by the
Kaduna State House of Assembly. However, the point should be made that
the Edict (now Law) is still subject to the constitutional validity
test. Indeed, Section 315 (3) of the 1999 Constitution expressly
subjects the Edict to the jurisdiction of the courts to declare it
invalid where any of its provisions offends the constitution or an Act
of the National Assembly or any other law.
This point is significant because the
1984 Edict cannot survive the constitutional validity test. Being the
forerunner to the bill, the edict is itself unconstitutional, null, void
and of no effect whatsoever.
Once it is shown that an existing law is
not within the legislative powers of the National Assembly or a state
House of Assembly as the case may be, the court has a duty to declare
the same null and void. The Supreme Court decisions in the celebrated
cases of Abacha v. Fawehinmi (2000) 6 N.W.L.R. (Pt. 660) 228 and
Attorney General of Lagos State v. Attorney General of the Federation
& Ors (2003) 12 N.W.L.R. (Pt. 833). P.1 are instructive in this
regard.
The Blue Pencil rule of statutory
interpretation allows for the severance of invalid portions of an
enactment from the valid portions. However, it is clear from the
submissions earlier canvassed that the entire provisions of the bill
(particularly Sections 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 of the
bill) run contrary to the express provisions of the constitution.
My humble view is that there is nothing
in the bill that justifies its preservation. No matter the perceived
nobility of Governor el-Rufai’s intention or motives for initiating this
bill, the constitution is supreme without exceptions.
Admittedly, Kaduna State has been a
hotbed for violent religious clashes over the years. The 2006 riots over
the Danish cartoons, the Miss World riots and the 2011 post-election
violence are just a few examples. What is, however, clear is that
religious riots are usually orchestrated by bigoted fellows who believe
that their religion has been defamed or blasphemed and that they have a
divine duty to fight, maim, kill and destroy, all in the name of
defending their religion.
How many persons have been successfully
prosecuted and convicted since the promulgation of the 1984 Edict? This
is the question that el-Rufai should answer.
I dare say that the solution to this
perennial menace does not lie in encroaching on sacred provisions of the
Nigerian Constitution. The Kaduna State Government cannot use an
apparently unconstitutional legislation (the 1984 Edict) or proposed
legislation (the 2016 Bill) as a weapon to fight religious extremism.
No government in Nigeria, federal or
state, can validly subject Nigerians that have elected to manifest or
propagate their religion or belief as Christian or Islamic preachers to
the requirement of obtaining a licence. That is not the business of the
government. We have a duty to uphold the secular character of the
Nigerian state. The various offences in Section 12 of the bill are ultra
vires the legislative powers of the Kaduna State House of Assembly. The
constitution cannot allow any state to dabble in the religious affairs
of the citizens to the extent of establishing the so-called “inter-faith
ministerial committee” to regulate the practice of religion.
There are ample provisions under the
Penal Code Law, Laws of Kaduna State 1991 that the state government can
effectively deploy to checkmate violence, riots, incitement, public
nuisance, etc. There are equally offences relating to religious worship
under the Penal Code Law of Kaduna State. Frankly, the issue is not the
inadequacy of law but the lack of political will to enforce it.
The Kaduna State Government should
immediately retrace from this provocative and unconstitutional
expedition by withdrawing the bill. The 1984 Edict should be repealed.
There is no need creating a rancorous atmosphere that is capable of
inciting members of the public and creating the very religious acrimony
and hostility that the bill purports or seeks to cure. I implore persons
and organisations who are aggrieved by the bill to seek redress in a
court of competent jurisdiction.
Concluded
Effiong, a constitutional lawyer
and the Convener of the Coalition of Human Rights Defenders, originally
wrote this piece for SaharaReporters. inibehe.effiong@gmail.com
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