Neither Party Must Already be Married : Nigerian Marriages

Marriage under the Act is monogamous in nature, being a union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others. Consequently, a party to a subsisting statutory or customary-law marriage has no capacity to enter into another statutory marriage with another person. Non-observance of this rule makes the subsequent marriage void, and is an offence punishable by imprisonment A party to a subsisting marriage under customary law has no capacity to contract a statutory marriage with a third party. But the same parties to the customary-law marriage may contract a subsequent and valid statutory marriage.

In the light of the above rules, it may be concluded that persons who may be parties to a valid statutory marriage are:

I. persons who are not married to a third party, either under the Marriage Act or under customary law;
2. persons who, having been previously married under the Marriage Act, have obtained valid decrees of divorce; and
3. in the case of a subsisting customarylaw marriage, the parties thereto, so long as the subsisting statutory marriage is between them. If the subsequent marriage is between one of the parties to the customary-law marriage and a third party, then it is illegal. However, if a man is married to several wives under customary law, he may contract a valid statutory marriage with one of his customary-law wives, or with a third party, so long as he first obtains the dissolution of the other marriages.