The last may not have been heard on the recent demand by the Federal Government on religious institutions in the country to submit details of their finances and expenditure for proper auditing. In a swift reaction the hierarchy of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has kicked against the new Company and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari last year. In rejecting the law, CAN has described it as obnoxious and satanic and asked the president to halt its implementation. Meanwhile, some Christians bear their minds on the new Act awaiting for the legislature to gazette for immediate implementation. For Miss Cynthia Nwosu, a Lagos based school teacher, the law is irrelevant and diversionary.
She asked Christians and Muslims alike to stoutly reject it. Mr. Isaiah Akpan, a worker in one of the hospitality centres in Lagos simply said the bill is senseless, meaning that every registered member of the Church or worship centre is indirectly being taxed, he submitted. He advised the government to drop the idea and direct its energy to the security and economic challenges confronting the country. The majority of those spoken to condemned in strong terms the newly introduced CAMA, which they insist is meant to curtail the freedom of worship as against the constitutional provision that says otherwise. They called on the Federal Government not to interfere in matters of religion and allow for free worship in the country. However, some others reacted differently to the new bill regulating the finances of worship centres.
They quoted from the Bible where the Pharisees wanted to trap Jesus Christ with the question of paying tax to civil authorities. Jesus’ answer “…Pay the Emperor what belongs to the Emperor…” Mtt 22:21, they believe summarizes the matter. Messrs Victor Agba and Moses Egbo, all residents of Lagos, in their separate comments, said religious organizations are to subject themselves to the ruling government and so should comply with the FG’s directives.
According to them, turning down the government request for religious bodies to submit their finances for proper auditing is like disobeying a constituted authority. In the meantime, in the recent interview with journalists, the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) Registrar General, Alhaji Garba Abubakar has given the indication that there is no going back on the new Company and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) and wondered why the Act is facing stiff opposition from religious institutions, especially the Churches. But the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), is adamant, insisting that the act is ungodly and satanic. Government, it cried out, should exempt religious bodies from the CAMA bill which the President listed as one of his achievements for last year.
