The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) has sued Governor Nasir El-Rufia and two others, over the regulation of religious preaching in Kaduna state. PFN filed the case before Justice Hajar Gwadah of Kaduna State High Court on August 12 and the hearing started yesterday.
The church demanded the court to declare null and void the executive bill before the Kaduna state House of Assembly. The bill seeks to reinforce the dormant 1984 Kaduna state law that regulates preaching in the state.
The PFN, made up of all Pentecostal churches in Nigeria, is seeking the enforcement of its fundamental rights “as guaranteed under Sections 38(1), 39(1), 40(1), and 42(1) of the 1999 Constitution as amended and under the African Charter of Human and Peoples Rights.”
Also, PFN wants the court to declare that “the Bill for a Law to substitute the Kaduna State Religious Preaching Law 1984, sent to the House of Assembly of Kaduna State by the Governor Nasir el-Rufai is a violation of the their fundamental rights of freedom of religion, association and discriminatory as guaranteed by Constitution.”
Chronicle gathered that the move by Governor El-Rufai was necessitated by extreme religious preaching in northern Nigeria. Through this, individuals have been brainwashed, thereby, increasing the level of religious non-tolerance in the state.
