Kaduna State House Of Assembly Passes Bill To Ensure Pastors And Imams Obtain License Before Preaching In The State

The Kaduna State House of Assembly today Friday June 7th, passed into law the Religious preaching Regulation law 1984. 

Speaker of the House, Aminu Abdullahi Shagali while reading the bill during plenary,  said a state inter-faith Regulatory council has been established with a chairman to be appointed by the Governor on the recommendation of the Secretary to the state Government. He also said  two members representing the Christians and Muslim faith  are to be  appointed by the Governor among others respectively.

According to Abdullahi, the bill when signed into law, will ensure that in each of the 23 local Government areas of the state, a committee to be known as the Local Government Inter-faith Committee must be established. The bill states that any person who plays religious cassette or uses a loud speaker for religious purposes between the hours of 11pm to 4am in a public place, and uses a loudspeaker for religious purposes other than inside a church or mosque commits an offence and shall on conviction be liable to imprisonment for a term of not less than two years or pay a fine of less than N200,000 or both.

The bill adds that any person who publicly insults or seeks to incite, contempt any religion, by making false statement in such a manner as to be likely to lead to violence and breach of public peace, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term of not less than five years,  a fine of not less than N100,000 or both .

The law now awaits the state governor, Nasir El-Rufai, for his assent.