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INTRODUCTION
Dissolution of marriage is a formal, legal ending of a marriageor marital union by a Court of law. It is otherwise known asdivorce.
It is trite that for a marriage to undergo divorce proceedingsin Court, such marriage must be a statutory marriage legallyconducted and evidenced by a valid Marriage Certificate. Astatutory marriage is one governed by the Matrimonial Causes Act('the Act')1 and includesmarriages conducted in a licensed place of worship, aregistrar's office and marriage under special license.
The Act confers jurisdiction on the State High Court todetermine the petition for dissolution of marriage.
GROUNDS FOR THE DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE
Under the Act, the sole ground for the dissolution of marriageis that the marriage has broken down irretrievably.2However, the petitioner must prove one or more of the facts belowto establish the ground.
The facts are as follows:
a. that the respondent has wilfully and persistently refused toconsummate the marriage;
b. that since the marriage the Respondent has committed adulteryand the petitioner finds it intolerable to live with therespondent;
c. that since the marriage the Respondent has behaved in such amanner that the Petitioner cannot reasonably be expected tolive with the Respondent;
d. that the Respondent has deserted the Petitioner for acontinuous period of at least one year immediately preceding thepresentation of the petition;
e. that the parties to the marriage have lived apart for acontinuous period of at least 2 years immediately preceding thepresentation of the petition and the Respondent does not object toa decree being granted;
f. that the parties to the marriage have lived apart for acontinuous period of at least 3 years immediately preceding thepresentation of the petition;
g. that the other party to the marriage has, for a period of notless than one year failed to comply with a decree or restitution ofconjugal rights made under this Act;
h. that the other party to the marriage has been absent from thePetitioner for such a time and in such circ*mstances as to providereasonable grounds for presuming that the Respondent isdead.3
When the above reasons have been successfully proved by thePetitioner, the Court can make an order for a decree nisi,which is often contained in the judgment of the Court. The orderautomatically becomes absolute within a period of 3 months in theabsence of any appeal from the affected party. Thus, after thedecree nisi has become absolute, there is no right toappeal the decision of the Court. More so, where any of the partiesdied before the 3 months elapses, it shall not become absolute.
Therefore, the marriage is completely dissolved where adecree absolute is made by the Court. The effect ofdissolving a statutory marriage is that a party to the marriage canmarry again as if the marriage had been resolved by death.
It must be emphasised that a petition for dissolution ofmarriage will not succeed if the petitioner has condoned any of theabove facts.
INSTITUTING PROCEEDINGS FOR DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE
It is worth mentioning that the petition for the dissolution ofmarriage cannot be brought where the marriage is under 2 (two)years unless the leave of the Court is sought. However, the leaveis not automatic as the petitioner must establish exceptionalhardship and exceptional depravity on his/her part.
Despite the 2 (two) years rule exception, there are instanceswhere the rule would not apply. They include:
- Wilful and persistent refusal to consummate the marriage;
- Adultery since the marriage and intolerability on the part ofthe Petitioner; and
- Commission of rape, sodomy or bestial*ty.
RATE OF DIVORCE IN NIGERIA
In 2016, official statistics suggested that the dissolution ofmarriage in Nigeria was uncommon. According to the National Bureauof Statistics, just 0.2% of men and 0.3% of women had legallydissolved their marriage. However, there is no doubt that the abovestatistical data is inapplicable in present times. According to areport in 2018, separation rates in Nigeria recorded a 14 percentincrease. The present statistics mirror a rather negativetrend.4
In a report published in 2018, a total of 3,000 divorce caseswere recorded in Badagry, Lagos. Also, in a 2019 report titled'Deciphering the high rate of Divorce in Nigeria', Kanostate alone had over 1 million registereddivorcees.5
More so, in a news report, it was learnt that a visit to theSocial Development Secretariat, Federal Capital DevelopmentAuthority (FCDA) revealed that a total of 20 to 30 cases of divorceare reported at one of the offices daily.6
Furthermore, records at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) HighCourt showed that over 2,000 divorce cases were filed between theyear 2019 and February 2020, with an average of 30 cases beingentertained every day, even as the Court is trying hard toreconcile couples through arbitration panels. Findings furtherrevealed that the figure is higher at the Customary Courts, theAlkali and the Sharia Customary Courts within theFCT.7
CONCLUSION
At this juncture, it is important to point out that divorce isnot entirely bad. In many instances, it has been a relief to adysfunctional or unproductive marriage. However, if its possible toprevent divorce, it is advisable to do so.
Footnotes
1 Cap. M7 Laws of Federation of Nigeria, 2004
2 Section 15(1) of Matrimonial Causes Act.
3 Section 15(2) of the Act.
4 https://www.vanguardngr.com/2020/10/the-rate-of-divorce-in-nigeria-latest-statistics/
5 https://www.blueprint.ng/4000-divorce-cases-in-2-months-which-way-family-values/
6 Ibid.
7 https://www.sunnewsonline.com/worries-as-courts-get-more-divorce-cases/
The content of this article is intended to provide a generalguide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be soughtabout your specific circ*mstances.
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