I.M.C. means Inter-Governmental Marital Committee. The Committee is comprised of the three arms of the Nigerian government: (Executive, Legislative & Judicuary), Federal Government, State Governments, Ministries and Parastatals and other marital Stakeholders. It also includes the two major religious groups in Nigeria namely: Christianity represented by Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and Islam by Supreme Islamic Council of Nigeria (SICON).
The Inter-Governmental Marital Committee Nigeria was officially inaugurated in Nigeria in 1999 by Professor Musa Yakubu Jella; the then Hon. Minister of Internal Affairs in Jos, Plateau State, after the return of Nigeria to democratic rule or administration.
The Committee has on its membership as at inauguration in 1999: The Federal Ministry of Women Affairs, Federal Ministry of Internal Affairs and Federal Ministry of Justice represented on the Committee by National Judicial Institute (NJI). However, over the years, the Committee membership has been broaden to include some other departments in the three tiers of government in Nigeria. Such departments and ministries or bodies include the following: Department of Local Government in the office of the SGF (Presidency), State Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Local Government Service Commission from the various states in Nigeria, Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (SCIA), Christian association of Nigeria (CAN), Nigerian Bar Association and some other relevant bodies from other tiers of government like Federal House of Representatives' relevant committee.
The Inter-Governmental Marital Committee in Nigeria promotes the growth and development of the family institution and marriage registration system in Nigeria at the Local Government Council by providing the platform for marriage registration stakeholders from all tiers of government to chart the right direction for the development of the family institution through effective marriage registration administration by the stakeholders. The Committee also provides continuous technical assistance to the Local Government Council Marriage Registry through continuous manpower skill development training for Local Government functionaries in Nigeria and outside Nigeria through National Training Workshop, Marital Symposium and Conferences and International Exchange Sturdy Tour of Commonwealth member Countries and countries that are signatory to the United Nations Charter on Right to Development and the United Nations General Assembly resolution 41/128 which was reaffirmed by the 1993 Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action.
The Inter-Governmental Marital Committee in Nigeria is practically in the vanguard of developing a reliable and globally acceptable and accessible statistics of marriages at the State and Local Government Council by floating a functional National Marital databank on a globally acceptable and accessible website domain for Nigerians at home and in Diaspora for the development of family institution and in particular marriage registration administration as part of the United Nations resolution 41/128 and Vienna Declaration on Right of Development with a special focus on family institution and development of reliable statistic of marriages for government and non-government agencies in and outside Nigeria.
In Nigeria, Councils are set up with enacted bills signed into laws by the executives, while Committees are set up with mandates on specific functions. The I.M.C. as a Committee, has mandates that are in line with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution in the Schedule 4 (i) on functions of Local Government to register all types of marriages. Marriage ACT is an act which makes provisions for the celebration and registration of marriages in Nigeria.