Nothing has changed at Ikoyi marriage registry, despite court ruling

To obtain the ruling, the state government argued before the court that it is the legal right of the registries in the Local Government and Local Council Development Areas to carry out the function, and not that of a federal-government-owned registry like the one in Ikoyi.

The ruling that bars the Ikoyi registry from holding weddings is said to have taken effect on April 30, 2018 but as at today, May 19, when Pulse visited, activities at the registry were in full swing with couples getting married.

You’d find it difficult to believe that any ruling had been passed against the federal establishment as activities have not even slowed down a tiny bit.

Newly married couples and excited families posed for photos, others were seated in the waiting space with eagerness in their eyes to be hitched to their sweethearts and a full house of guests were milling around the registry compound like every other business day.

Two couples we approached were absolutely, blissfully unaware that any ruling has been passed.

This is understandable, given that the ruling has just been announced yesterday, May 17, by the Commissioner for Local Government and Community Affairs, Muslim Folami, and the sensitization planned for the populace by the state government has not yet begun.

“We are going to use the five divisions across the state to sensitize our people and inform them about this latest development.

“From Epe to Ikorodu, Badagry, Ikeja and Lagos Island. The sensitization walk which we embarked on today is also a way of creating awareness and letting the people know of this latest development,” Folami says.

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Will anything change at the Ikoyi registry soon?

This is not the first time that Lagos state has gotten this kind of order against the Federal marriage registry.

The President of Marriage Registrars in all LGs/LCDAs in Lagos state, Deji Sokeye confirms this yesterday, March 17, that a similar judgement was indeed given by a court in 2004, but it was ignored by the Federal Government.

And if what we saw and heard at the registry today is anything to go by, it appears nothing will change even now.

One of the officials there who agreed to speak to Pulse anonymously says the state government of Lagos is just being “greedy” and that there was no way activities at the Ikoyi registry would slow down or stop until a directive is sent to them from their “ogas.”

Asked if any of such directives has been sent to them as at the time of asking [few hours before this publication], her answer was an emphatic “No.”

This official obviously belongs to the group of people who believe that the state government is trying to bar the federal registry from registering marriages simply because they want all the revenues generated from weddings in the state to come into their Purse, and not to the federal government’s.

Another worker at the registry who also spoke to Pulse anonymously says that what the Lagos state government is asking is impossible, and not even the court ruling can change how things are right now.

“How does a state government try to supersede the authority of the Federal government?” she asks in a bid to prove her point.

State marriage certificates v Federal marriage certificates

Away from the turf war involving both governments, what exactly does this mean to the people who intend to get married?

What’s the difference between these certificates? What’s special about one that's absent in the other?

Apparently people prefer the Federal marriage certificates to the state-issued ones.

According to Mr. Benson, a married man in Lagos who spoke to Pulse, “the federal government’s marriage certificate is more useful than the one issued by the state.

“If you want to travel abroad for example, no one is going to accept a state-issued marriage certificate from you.”

This rings true, and explains why Commissioner Muslim Folami said at the press-conference yesterday that the judgement of the court is binding on every organization and institution in the state, including the embassies.

The first official at the registry who spoke to us also believes this, saying that the marriage certificate they issue is "superior" to the one given at the local governments because of the importance attached to them at the embassies and other places where the tender of marriage certificates is required.

Lagos state may have gotten a court ruling against the Federal government’s marriage-registering operations in the state, but that seems the easy part.

There would be a need to effectively inform the populace, institutions and embassies of this development and to also enforce the ruling against the federal government.

Now to successfully get these done will be the really difficult part.