On Sunday, Bishop David Oyedepo, the President of Living Faith Church Worldwide, while preaching , kicked against the application of a section of the recently passed into law Companies and Allied Matters Act 2020 (“CAMA”), stating that such a section of the law was due to the jealousy of the government to the growth of churches.
Specifically, the Bishop contends with Section 839 (1) of the Act which declares that the “Commission may by order suspend the trustees of an association and appoint an interim manager or managers the affairs of an association where it reasonably believes that there is or has been any misconduct or mismanagement in the administration of the association”, and for other reasons. Note that churches and religious bodies are included in “an association”.
Essentially, Oyedepo is worried about ‘Trustees’ encroaching into ‘church territory’. But, a media aide to the President, Luaretta Onochie has also replied Oyedepo, stating that he will have to go ahead to “manufacture his own country” if he does not want to obey Nigerian laws.
There are other opinions by Nigerians too, including this one:
But this new development is bouncing off a wave of Nigerian Pastors and their resistance to any form of state regulation. Just recently, Pastor Chris Oyakhilome of the Believers Loveworld Incorporated condemned the lockdown of churches and religious organisations so as to stem the spread of the coronavirus, stating that “We can serve God as he wants us to, not as somebody says we should”.
So, what do you think? Are you in support of this new clause? Are churches in Nigeria getting a free pass or they should be strictly regulated? Try not to “touch the annointed” as you collect your thoughts, plis dear.
