Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, has come under attack from the Catholic Archbishop of Onitsha and Metropolitan of Onitsha Ecclesiastical Province, Most Rev. Valerian Okeke, over his statement against the church.

Soludo had engaged the cleric in a war of words after the governor threatened to impose a fine on the Obimma family for celebrating the funeral ceremony of Ezinne Grace Obimma in a flamboyant manner.

The governor, in the Requiem Mass for Ezinne Obimma, mother of Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Obimma, spiritual director of the Holy Ghost Adoration Ministry, Uke, Idemili South Local Government Area, blamed the family for over-shooting the limit of burial expenses prescribed by the law.

He said the insignificant, low-key burial of his father, Pa Simeon Soludo, was a child’s play compared to that of the late Madam Obimma, who died at 88.

Reacting to the statement, the Archbishop flayed the governor for stepping into an area he had no jurisdiction and asked him to respect the boundaries or principles of separation of jurisdiction.

“In separation of power, you don’t make laws for the church on how to bury the dead because it’s bound to fail. It’s not the duty of the governor to make law on how Christian burials should be done because there are more serious things the government should do. Any law that is impossible to keep or enforce should be considered unjust,” he said.

According to him, the church could only make laws where it has exclusive ecclesiastical powers and not for the government because they remain two separate jurisdictions.

He pointed out that the church made suggestions on how to cut expenses during burial but noted that the choice of celebrants to decide whether to spend heavily or not depended on them.

Earlier during the Mass, the presiding cleric and Chancellor of Onitsha Archdiocese, Rev Fr. Dr. Prudentius Aroh, and Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, extolled the late Madam Obimma saying she lived a life worthy of emulation.

In his words of appreciation, Rev Fr. Obimma said his mother died on All Saints Day (1st November), noting that heaven had gained a saint.

The Parish Priest of Blessed Iwene Tansi Catholic Church in Umudioka, Dunukofia Local Council Area, Rev. Fr. Obimma, noted that Madam Obimma lived a life dedicated to the service of God and humanity.

Culled from The Sun