Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State and the Catholic Archbishop of Onitsha Archdiocese and Metropolitan of Onitsha Ecclesiastical Province, His Grace, Most Rev. Valerian Okekim have disgreed on Anambra state Burial law.
In 2019, Anambra State enacted laws during Willie Obiano’s administration on how burials should be conducted, especially to avoid extravagant spending.
Governor Soludo who demonstrated his support for the burial law during his father’s burial had at Nkwelle Ezunaka during the burial of Ezinne Grace Obimma, mother of the spiritual director of Holy Ghost Adoration Ministry, Uke, Rev Fr Emmanuel Obimma, lambasted the family, particularly Charles Obimma, who was a member of the legislature that passed the state burial law in 2019, for over-shooting limit of burial expenses prescribed by the law.
Disagreeing with the governor, Archbishop Okeke said that the Governor was stepping into an area he had no jurisdiction. The Archbishop asked Governor Soludo to respect the boundaries or principles of separation of jurisdiction.
The cleric said: “ In separation of powers, you don’t make laws for the church on how to bury the dead because it’s bound to fail.
“It’s not the duty of the Governor to make laws on how Christian burials should be done because there are more serious things the government should do than burials. Any law that is impossible to keep or enforce should be considered unjust.”
According to him, the church can only make laws where it has exclusive ecclesiastical powers and not for the government because they remain two separate jurisdictions.
He pointed out that the church made suggestions on how to cut expenses during burial but noted that the choice of celebrants to decide whether to spend hugely or meagrely depended on them.
