By Asare Asare, Calabar
The Anglican Church, has kicked against the provision of the Company and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), where churches, mosques and other religious organisations would now be taxed or administrators appointed to run them in the events of crises or misunderstanding.
The Archbishop of the Anglican Communion in the Niger Delta Province, Most Rev Tunde Adeleye, while addressing news men at the weekend, said “the law is obnoxious and wicked in all forms and ramifications,” adding that it is unknown to accurate reasoning.
According to him, “the law is an aberration for an institution such as the Church or Mosque to submit and subject its audited accounts to the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) for scrutiny and examination.”
Adeleye who is the chairman of Christian Council of Nigeria for South-South, expressed dismay that CAC is saddled with the power to appoint, retire or elect a board of trustees for the religious organizations, fearing that they might decide to impose an occultic man or one of a different faith to preside over, say, the church.
“What if an occultic man becomes chairman of board of trustees of a church, is this law not trying to put such a chairman to death?
“What is disturbing to us is how the issue of company laws affect the church. The trustees of the church were not appointed or elected by government, and church does not sell or buy anything. Who is suggesting this diabolical move? He asked.
Adeleye said government is deliberately planning to cause problems, destruction and annihilation of the religious organizations.
He insisted that “Christianity is not a political party, company or a business enterprise but the ‘house’ of God.
“To ask the church therefore to subject itself to CAMA or CAC is an attempt to ridicule God, and nobody can ridicule God. The law is not acceptable to Christians,” he further said.
He maintained that the church is not against government fighting corruption, but that CAMA as it affects the church, is corruption and immorality.
