Listen up married folks in the building (and soon-to-be married folks), if you got married at the famed Ikoyi Registry or any other federal registry then your union might not be recognized.
On Monday, Justice Chuka Obiozor passed the judgement which nullifies federal marriage certificates.
This means that all marriages conducted by the Federal registry in Ikoyi, Lagos are not legally valid, according to the ruling by the Lagos high court.
While Justice Chuka didn’t give a very detailed or in-depth explanation as to why this ruling was passed he did comment on it. He said that federal registry certificates are not superior to ones issued by state and local governments.
On Thursday we saw Muslim Folami, the Lagos state commissioner for local government and community affairs, say that the judgement will be communicated to all stakeholders, including embassies.
He continued by saying that the decision of the court is supreme and is legally binding on all and that all marriages conducted and registered in any of the 20 local governments and 37 local council development areas are valid and in accordance with the marriage act.
Folami said the judgement would put an end to the misconceived notion that marriages conducted by the Federal registry were superior to ones conducted by state and local governments.
We aren’t quite sure yet what this will mean for all the couples that have trooped there to legally unite before the law but we’ll give you updates as the story develops.
