INTRODUCTION
The deadly Coronavirus (Covid-19) has led to restrictions in
public gatherings and events over the past weeks. As a means to
curtail the spread of the virus, the Federal Government of Nigeria
ordered a lockdown of activities (Except for few essential
services) in some States of the country.
It was observed that a number of intending couples who have
already scheduled their weddings but could not proceed with same
due to the lockdown decided to make due the Virtual medium
available at their disposal to still proceed with the solemnization
of their marriages using the online platforms such as Zoom,
Instalive, Webex meeting etc. Some of these virtual solemnizations
took place with the groom, bride and the officiating minister in
different states of the Federation or the bride and groom in their
home and the minister also solemnizing the marriage from his own
home.
However, considering the provisions of the law regulating the
celebration of a valid marriage in Nigeria, can we say that such
virtual marriages can also be recognize as a valid Statutory
marriage in Nigeria? Were the couples being smart by opting for
such an option? Let’s find out the requirement of the law with
respect to celebration of statutory marriage as enshrined in the
Marriage Act.
CELEBRATION OF MARRIAGE UNDER THE MARRIAGE
ACT
By virtue of the provision of section 21 of the Marriage Act, a
marriage can only be celebrated in a licensed place of worship or
the marriage registry. The section provides thus:
“Marriage may be celebrated in any licensed place of
worship by any recognized minister of the church, denomination or
body to which such place of worship belongs, and according to the
rites or usages of marriage observed in such church, denomination
or body: provided that the marriage be celebrated with open doors
between the hours of eight O’ Clock in the forenoon and six
O’ Clock in the afternoon, and in the presence of two or more
witnesses besides the officiating minister”. (emphasis
mine)
Going by the above quoted provision, it is doubtful if the
drafters of the law contemplated an online or virtual celebration
of marriage in Nigeria. From the wording of the section, it
suggested that marriage celebration may only be conducted in a
physical building with an open door.
One may be tempted to assume that such couples who decided to
celebrate their marriage online might have obtained the license of
the Minister under section 13 of the Act, this is also doubtful
because the marriage registry and the office of the Minister did
not fall under the exempted essential service workers during the
lockdown, thus in my view, such license could not have been issued
by the Minister during the lockdown since offices were closed down
except for those providing essential services. Section 13 of the
Act stated that;
“The Minister upon proof of being made to him by
affidavit that there is no lawful impediment to the proposed
marriage, and that the necessary consent, if any, to such marriage
has been obtained, may, if he shall think fit, dispensed with the
giving of notice, and with issue of the certificate of the
registrar, and may grant his license, which shall be according to
prescribed form, authorizing the celebration of a marriage between
the parties named in such license by a registrar, or by a
recognized minister of some religious denomination or
body.”
To buttress the provision of Section 21 above, section 23 of the
Act went further to provide thus:
“A minister shall not celebrate any marriage except in a
building which has been duly licensed by the Minister, or in such
place as the license issued under section 13 of this Act, may
direct.” (emphasis mine)
The above section in fact makes it obvious that marriage may
only be celebrated in a building by prohibiting a minister from
celebrating a marriage except in a building which is licensed or
such a place directed by the Minister.
In some jurisdiction across the world, the government issued
executive orders during the lockdown to allowed and recognized the
celebration of such virtual marriages as valid.
In March, Indonesia, created online marriage registration,
although the service is only for those who got married and applied
for registration before the remote working policy. Andrew Cuoma,
the Governor of New York also issued an executive order allowing
couples to obtain marriage license remotely and allowing clerks to
perform the ceremonies via video conference. Same applies to
the United Arab Emirate.
However, no such orders or policy was made here in Nigeria to
address this particular issue therefore allowing couples to make
such decisions for themselves.
STATUS OF ONLINE MARRIAGES IN NIGERIA
Section 33 (2) (a) of the marriage Act provide thus;
“A marriage shall be null and void if both parties
knowingly and willfully acquiesce in its celebration in any place
other than the office of the Registrar of marriage or a licensed
place issued under section 13 of this Act”. (emphasis
mine)
Flowing from the above section, virtual marriages celebrated in
Nigeria may not be recognized as valid marriage under the law
because of its failure to comply with the provisions of the
Marriage Act as to the place and manner of celebration except the
Minister has granted license for such a marriage to be celebrated
virtually (such licensed virtual marriage platform has to be
gazette in accordance with section 6 of the Act).
However, the said virtual marriage can still maintain a valid
status if and only if the parties can show ignorance of the fact
that they were not aware that such online celebration is not
recognized by law. To invalidate a marriage on the ground that it
was not celebrated at the Registrar’s office or licensed place by
the Minister, the element of ‘Knowledge and Willingness’ has to be
established.
The act provides that the parties must have “knowingly and
willfully” acquiesce to the celebration in such unrecognized place.
In the case of Obiekwe v. Obiekwe (1963) 7 ENLR
196 the court did not declare a marriage null and void
because the court found that the couple did not knowingly and
willfully acquiesce in marriage without the requisite license. See
also the case of Akuwudike v. Akuwudike (1963) 7 ENLR
5.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Times has change and I believe our laws should also move with
time. As seen from the provision of our law, celebration of
Online/virtual marriages was not contemplated and that tend to
invalidate any such marriages celebrated outside the specified and
authorized places of celebration.
The coronavirus pandemic has exposed some lacuna in our laws
which the Marriage Act is also a victim of. We have to accept the
new changes that technology has introduced to us such as
Online/Virtual marriages and adjust our laws to recognize and
accept them as a valid celebration of marriages in Nigeria.
However, pending when the marriage act will be reviewed to
incorporate virtual marriages, the Minister can license certain
recognized online platform as a recognized place for celebration of
marriage.
For the couples who might have celebrated their marriages during
the lockdown virtually without a license, the status of the
marriage is now based on their knowledge and willful acquiescence
to such a celebration. As seen in the cases cited above, the
marriage can still be valid if the court is satisfied that the
parties did not knowingly and willfully acquiesce to it.
Written by; REAL DENNIS ESQ. (LL.B, BL),
realdanieldan@gmail.com
INTRODUCTION
The deadly Coronavirus (Covid-19) has led to restrictions in
public gatherings and events over the past weeks. As a means to
curtail the spread of the virus, the Federal Government of Nigeria
ordered a lockdown of activities (Except for few essential
services) in some States of the country.
It was observed that a number of intending couples who have
already scheduled their weddings but could not proceed with same
due to the lockdown decided to make due the Virtual medium
available at their disposal to still proceed with the solemnization
of their marriages using the online platforms such as Zoom,
Instalive, Webex meeting etc. Some of these virtual solemnizations
took place with the groom, bride and the officiating minister in
different states of the Federation or the bride and groom in their
home and the minister also solemnizing the marriage from his own
home.
However, considering the provisions of the law regulating the
celebration of a valid marriage in Nigeria, can we say that such
virtual marriages can also be recognize as a valid Statutory
marriage in Nigeria? Were the couples being smart by opting for
such an option? Let’s find out the requirement of the law with
respect to celebration of statutory marriage as enshrined in the
Marriage Act.
CELEBRATION OF MARRIAGE UNDER THE MARRIAGE
ACT
By virtue of the provision of section 21 of the Marriage Act, a
marriage can only be celebrated in a licensed place of worship or
the marriage registry. The section provides thus:
“Marriage may be celebrated in any licensed place of
worship by any recognized minister of the church, denomination or
body to which such place of worship belongs, and according to the
rites or usages of marriage observed in such church, denomination
or body: provided that the marriage be celebrated with open doors
between the hours of eight O’ Clock in the forenoon and six
O’ Clock in the afternoon, and in the presence of two or more
witnesses besides the officiating minister”. (emphasis
mine)
Going by the above quoted provision, it is doubtful if the
drafters of the law contemplated an online or virtual celebration
of marriage in Nigeria. From the wording of the section, it
suggested that marriage celebration may only be conducted in a
physical building with an open door.
One may be tempted to assume that such couples who decided to
celebrate their marriage online might have obtained the license of
the Minister under section 13 of the Act, this is also doubtful
because the marriage registry and the office of the Minister did
not fall under the exempted essential service workers during the
lockdown, thus in my view, such license could not have been issued
by the Minister during the lockdown since offices were closed down
except for those providing essential services. Section 13 of the
Act stated that;
“The Minister upon proof of being made to him by
affidavit that there is no lawful impediment to the proposed
marriage, and that the necessary consent, if any, to such marriage
has been obtained, may, if he shall think fit, dispensed with the
giving of notice, and with issue of the certificate of the
registrar, and may grant his license, which shall be according to
prescribed form, authorizing the celebration of a marriage between
the parties named in such license by a registrar, or by a
recognized minister of some religious denomination or
body.”
To buttress the provision of Section 21 above, section 23 of the
Act went further to provide thus:
“A minister shall not celebrate any marriage except in a
building which has been duly licensed by the Minister, or in such
place as the license issued under section 13 of this Act, may
direct.” (emphasis mine)
The above section in fact makes it obvious that marriage may
only be celebrated in a building by prohibiting a minister from
celebrating a marriage except in a building which is licensed or
such a place directed by the Minister.
In some jurisdiction across the world, the government issued
executive orders during the lockdown to allowed and recognized the
celebration of such virtual marriages as valid.
In March, Indonesia, created online marriage registration,
although the service is only for those who got married and applied
for registration before the remote working policy. Andrew Cuoma,
the Governor of New York also issued an executive order allowing
couples to obtain marriage license remotely and allowing clerks to
perform the ceremonies via video conference. Same applies to
the United Arab Emirate.
However, no such orders or policy was made here in Nigeria to
address this particular issue therefore allowing couples to make
such decisions for themselves.
STATUS OF ONLINE MARRIAGES IN NIGERIA
Section 33 (2) (a) of the marriage Act provide thus;
“A marriage shall be null and void if both parties
knowingly and willfully acquiesce in its celebration in any place
other than the office of the Registrar of marriage or a licensed
place issued under section 13 of this Act”. (emphasis
mine)
Flowing from the above section, virtual marriages celebrated in
Nigeria may not be recognized as valid marriage under the law
because of its failure to comply with the provisions of the
Marriage Act as to the place and manner of celebration except the
Minister has granted license for such a marriage to be celebrated
virtually (such licensed virtual marriage platform has to be
gazette in accordance with section 6 of the Act).
However, the said virtual marriage can still maintain a valid
status if and only if the parties can show ignorance of the fact
that they were not aware that such online celebration is not
recognized by law. To invalidate a marriage on the ground that it
was not celebrated at the Registrar’s office or licensed place by
the Minister, the element of ‘Knowledge and Willingness’ has to be
established.
The act provides that the parties must have “knowingly and
willfully” acquiesce to the celebration in such unrecognized place.
In the case of Obiekwe v. Obiekwe (1963) 7 ENLR
196 the court did not declare a marriage null and void
because the court found that the couple did not knowingly and
willfully acquiesce in marriage without the requisite license. See
also the case of Akuwudike v. Akuwudike (1963) 7 ENLR
5.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Times has change and I believe our laws should also move with
time. As seen from the provision of our law, celebration of
Online/virtual marriages was not contemplated and that tend to
invalidate any such marriages celebrated outside the specified and
authorized places of celebration.
The coronavirus pandemic has exposed some lacuna in our laws
which the Marriage Act is also a victim of. We have to accept the
new changes that technology has introduced to us such as
Online/Virtual marriages and adjust our laws to recognize and
accept them as a valid celebration of marriages in Nigeria.
However, pending when the marriage act will be reviewed to
incorporate virtual marriages, the Minister can license certain
recognized online platform as a recognized place for celebration of
marriage.
For the couples who might have celebrated their marriages during
the lockdown virtually without a license, the status of the
marriage is now based on their knowledge and willful acquiescence
to such a celebration. As seen in the cases cited above, the
marriage can still be valid if the court is satisfied that the
parties did not knowingly and willfully acquiesce to it.
Written by; REAL DENNIS ESQ. (LL.B, BL),
realdanieldan@gmail.com