No tax should be imposed on the church. - Anglican Primate

Primate of Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh, has faulted calls for the taxation of churches and mosques in the country.

The call, he said, was not justifiable and should be disregarded.

Okoh spoke on Saturday during the 14th Carnival for Christ and the 23rd anniversary of the Anglican Diocese of Abuja entitled ‘Experiencing the Resurrection Power’.

He spoke against the backdrop of a recent call by Mr. Femi Falana (SAN) that churches and mosques in the country should be taxed.

He said, “It has never been done, if there is an excess in one or two individuals. It is not a justification for government to impose taxes on the church. The church has never been a beneficiary of government allocation.

“The states gather together and share monthly allocation, no church has received any share.

“The church as a partner with government in progress actually has to be funded, because a lot of people are employed by schools and charity organisations run by the church. So, instead of government asking the church to bring money, it should be the one giving money to the church and supporting its programmes.”

On security challenges, Okoh said, “No amount of persecution can stop the church. In the past, there were many persecutions but they could not stop the church. The power behind the resurrection can not be stopped by any body.

“The church should not loose courage that God has abandoned them for persecutors to be bombing them. They can not overcome the church, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is what saved the world.”

Falana had, last week while reacting to the acquisition of a private jet by the President of Christian Association of Nigeria, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, said there was the need to start taxing religious institutions in the country.

The legal practitioner, who represented Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, at a workshop in Lagos, had expressed worry about the role of religious bodies in the fight against corruption.

He said, “If this is the case then, the tax authorities must extend their dragnets to all religious centres where substantial income is generated on a regular basis in the name of God. “The prosperity pastors, who are buying jets to preach the gospel to those who wallow in abject poverty should be assessed according to their wealth and be made to pay commensurate taxes”.