By Michael Ovat – Awka
Mr Daniel Ezeigwe, the media assistant to the Anambra State governor’s wife, Mrs Nonye Soludo, has clarified a disputed claim by former Anambra Governor Peter Obi that he and his wife, Margaret, are godparents to Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s children.
According to a statement he released in Awka on Sunday, Ezeigwe said Obi is not a godfather to any of Soludo’s children, explaining that the actual godparent relationships between the two families involve their respective wives.
He said Dr Nonye Soludo, wife of Governor Soludo, is the confirmation godmother to Obi’s daughter, while Margaret Obi is the baptismal godmother to one of Soludo’s daughters.
Ezeigwe stressed that neither Obi nor Soludo has served as a godparent to the other’s children, adding that the clarification became necessary following the widespread circulation of a video containing Obi’s remarks and enquiries from members of the public.
Obi had made the claim on Friday while speaking at the 22nd Conference of the Nigerian Guild of Editors in Enugu, where he referred to his relationship with Soludo and said the two families remained close despite their political differences.
Ezeigwe said the distinction was particularly important in the context of Catholic baptismal practice, where a godparent, technically known as a sponsor, is a person formally designated to undertake that responsibility.
He explained that under Canon 873 of the Catholic Church’s Code of Canon Law, a baptism may have one sponsor, male or female, or one male and one female sponsor.
According to him, the fact that a woman is designated as a child’s baptismal godmother does not automatically make her husband the child’s godfather.
Ezeigwe said Canon 877 requires the names of baptismal sponsors to be entered in the baptismal register alongside those of the minister and the child’s parents, adding that the recognised role therefore belongs to the person formally designated as sponsor.
He said the presence of a sponsor’s spouse at the baptism, friendship with the family or a personal relationship with the child did not, by itself, confer the canonical status of godparent on that spouse.
Ezeigwe said it was possible that Obi simply misspoke while making his remarks, but added that the widespread circulation of the statement made it necessary to clarify the actual relationship between the two families.
He said the relationship between the families remained cordial and urged the public and media to distinguish between the documented baptismal and confirmation godparent relationships and broader personal or family ties.
