SOLUDO’S WIFE REJECTS PETER OBI’S CLAIM TO BE GODFATHER OF HER CHILDREN
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By: Fasasi Hammad
Wife of the Anambra State Governor, Nonye Soludo, has dismissed as false a claim by the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, that he and his wife are godparents to Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s children.
Mrs Soludo, while citing the Canon Law of the Catholic Church, explained that Peter Obi’s wife being the godmother of her daughters does not automatically make Obi their godfather.
She said Catholic baptismal sponsorship is based on the individual formally designated as a sponsor and does not extend to the sponsor’s spouse.
In a statement issued by Daniel Ezeigwe, Media Assistant to the First Lady of Anambra State, Mrs Soludo said the position of the Catholic Church was clear on the matter.
Her explanation followed arguments that since there is no distinction between Peter Obi and his wife, Obi was justified in describing himself as the godfather of Soludo’s children because his wife was involved in their baptism.
According to Mrs Soludo, Canon 873 of the Code of Canon Law provides for one sponsor, either male or female, or one male and one female sponsor.
She explained that the responsibility belongs specifically to the person formally designated as the sponsor, stressing that a woman chosen as a child’s godmother does not automatically confer the role of godfather on her husband.
“Marriage does not transfer the canonical role of sponsor from one spouse to the other,” she said.
The First Lady said people were free to interpret relationships socially as they wished but should not present personal interpretations as the official position of the Catholic Church on baptismal godparenting.
She said the key issue was identifying the person formally designated as the child’s baptismal sponsor, adding that the Church does not determine the role based on who the sponsor is married to, who attended the ceremony or who was involved in the arrangement.
Mrs Soludo further cited Canon 877, which requires the names of baptismal sponsors to be recorded in the baptismal register alongside the names of the minister and the child’s parents.
She therefore maintained that if a particular woman was formally designated as the baptismal sponsor, she remained the child’s godmother, regardless of her husband’s consent, presence at the ceremony, friendship with the family or personal relationship with the child.
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