Soludo aide rejects Obi supporters’ interpretation of Catholic godparenting rules

Daniel Ezeigwe, media aide to Anambra State First Lady Nonye Soludo, has urged supporters of former governor Peter Obi to stop presenting their interpretation of Catholic godparenting as the position of the Church. The dispute followed the Anambra State Government’s rejection of claims that Obi and his wife are godparents to the children of Governor Chukwuma Soludo. The disagreement has prompted public debate over the meaning of “godfather”, “godmother” and “godparent” within Catholic practice.

In a statement issued on Sunday, Ezeigwe said people could describe relationships in whatever social terms they preferred, but should not attribute those descriptions to Catholic canon law. He said the relevant question was who had been formally designated as the child’s baptismal sponsor. According to Ezeigwe, the Catholic Church technically refers to a baptismal godparent as a sponsor.

He cited Canon 873 of the Code of Canon Law, which provides for one sponsor, either male or female, or one male and one female sponsor. He said the role belonged to the person officially chosen for it. If a woman was selected as a child’s godmother, he argued, her husband would not automatically become the child’s godfather because of the marriage.

Nor would the husband’s consent, presence at the ceremony, friendship with the family or personal relationship with the child transfer the canonical role to him. Ezeigwe also cited Canon 877, which requires sponsors’ names to be entered in the baptismal register alongside those of the minister and the parents. He said two people would have recognised roles only if both had been formally designated as sponsors.

The aide described the issue as a matter of Church records rather than political loyalty or sentiment. He said Obi’s supporters were entitled to their social interpretation of the relationship, but should not portray it as the Catholic Church’s definition of baptismal godparenting.