Anti-Religious Bill unconstitutional - Osinbajo

The Vice-President, Prof Yemi Osin­bajo, has said any attempt to restrict free­dom of worship would amount to unlawful con­duct. Osinbajo declared that prior restraint to religious worship in the country was open to abuse.

The Vice-President stated this on Monday at the first National Judicial Round-table in Abuja.

Osinbajo, who spoke as Special Guest of Hon­our at the maiden event at the National Judicial Institute in Abuja, not­ed that the freedom of speech and worship were closely linked and insep­arable.

He delivered his ad­dress on the theme of the one day conference tagged: ‘The Intersection between Law and Reli­gion: World Perspectives’.

“I am of the view that prior restraint to free­dom of worship is open to abuse and will unduly restrict freedom of wor­ship and it’s probably un­constitutional. Freedom of speech is not only a fundamental right in its own right but it is also the vehicle for the realisation of other rights.”

The VP addressed a gathering of top judicial officers, academics and religious leaders as well as international dignitaries who converged on Abuja from all over the country.

Osinbajo, however, pointed out that multi-religious and multi-ethnic societies must accept the arbitration of law and its religiously neutral institu­tions for the maintenance of peaceful co-existence.

“A secular state where freedom of religion is al­lowed and rigorously pro­tected is fundamental to an orderly society.

“Law and religion must protect the fundamental and inalienable rights of every person to life in all its social and political im­plications.

The laws must, howev­er, be enforced to punish offensive conducts such as the dissemination of hate speech or the perpe­tration of unlawful acts under the guise of reli­gious beliefs”, Osinbajo declared.

The Vice-President who is a professor of Law and a Pastor, “There is no question at all that there are important intersec­tions between Law as an instrument of social con­trol and religion, especial­ly in so far as it tends to define moral parameters and borders.

He submitted that most legal systems draw substance from formal religious systems, adding that despite these obvious intersections between law and religion, both systems have their own sources and structures of author­ity.