The controversy surrounding the introduction of Shari?a Court in the six states of the South-West has continued to generate mixed reactions.

While some people see nothing wrong in it, others feel the issue is so sensitive and should not be introduced in a secular society like the South-West zone of the country.

The issue of the Shari?a Court came to the front burner in 1999 when it was introduced in Zamfara. Since then, it has been spreading like a bushfire in the harmattan.

Genesis of Shari?a Panel controversy

A Muslim group had stated that the inauguration of the Shari?a Panel was to be held at the Muslim Community Islamic Centre in the Mobolaje Area of Oyo State.

However, the proposed inauguration did not enjoy the support of Governor Seyi Makinde who declared that it would run contrary to the Constitution which he swore to uphold.

He said in a viral video that: ?They want to bring the issue of Shari?a to Oyo State. As for me, it is the Constitution of Nigeria that I swore to uphold. If it?s in the Constitution, there?s no problem. But, if it?s not, they should expect that I will insist that the Constitution must be followed.?

Even though the comments by the governor were initially refused by a Muslim group, the Supreme Council for Shari?a in Nigeria, SCSN (Oyo Branch), announced that the planned inauguration slated for January 11, 2025, be postponed indefinitely.

The postponement was contained in a statement signed by the Khadimul Muslimeen of Oyo Kingdom, Imam Daud Igi Ogun.

Daud said: ?The inauguration ceremony of the Supreme Council for Shari?ah in Nigeria (Oyo branch) has been suspended until further notice. Islam portrays peace.?

Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State also ruled out the establishment of Shari?a in the state saying emphatically: ?No Shari?a Court is authorised to operate within Ogun State. The courts that are legally empowered to adjudicate disputes arising within Ogun State are those established by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria or by state laws, which are: Magistrates? Courts, High Court, Customary Courts, Customary Court of Appeal, Federal High Court, National Industrial Court, Court of Appeal, and Supreme Court.

?No law operating in Ogun State has established a Shari?a Court, and Shari?a law does not form part of the legal framework by which the Ogun State Government administers and governs society.

?However, this freedom does not extend to the formation of unauthorised assemblies or institutions. No individual or group is legally permitted to constitute a court or present themselves to the public as a court without legal backing.

?Those behind that notice have no legal backing. They cannot set up a court or administer justice by fiat or public notice,? he noted.

In its efforts to convince Shari?a antagonists, the Muslims Rights Concern, MURIC, tutored those who kept saying they wanted to launch a Shari?a Court in Oyo.

It noted that it was just a panel and not the Shari?a Court as rumoured.

The Founder of MURIC, Prof. Ishaq Akintola, who reacted to a Yoruba group which frowned at the Shari?a inauguration, said: ?A Yoruba group under the name Yoruba Council Worldwide (Igbimo Apapo Yoruba Lagbaye) has threatened to take legal action against Muslims planning to launch Shari?a court in Oyo town, Oyo State if they go ahead with the plan.

?But this is a deliberate attempt to create tension because, in reality, nobody is planning to inaugurate a Shari?a court. What is being planned in Oyo town is a Shari?a panel. It is only the state or Federal Government that has the constitutional power to create a court.

?On the contrary, any group of people can set up a panel. A panel is just a committee. A group can set up a committee or panel and an organisation can do the same. The Yoruba group is just crying wolf where there is none because we explained all these in our statement of Thursday, 26th December 2024.

The Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, NSCIA, through its President-General, His Eminence, Muhammad Sa?ad Abubakar, wondered why there?s so much noise on the issue saying it was disturbing to discover the high rate of intolerance and disregard for the rights of Muslims in the southern part of the country.

Speaking through Imam Haroun Muhammad Eze, Deputy National Legal Adviser, in a statement, the Sultan said: ?The most recent of this is the development emanating from Ekiti State where the efforts of the Muslim community to set up an Independent Shari?a (Arbitration) Panel was met with unwarranted resistance and objections from both political and traditional quarters.

?The Independent Arbitration Panel, which is a voluntary platform designed solely for the resolution of civil and marital disputes among consenting Muslims, was to fill the inexplicable vacuum created by the failure of the political elite in South-Western Nigeria to establish Shari?a Courts, as allowed by the Nigerian Constitution, in South-Western states, despite the huge population of Muslims in the region.

?This and other cases, such as the denial of the rights of female students to wear the hijab despite a Supreme Court judgement, are nothing but calculated attempts to prevent Muslims in the region from practising their faith.

?The NSCIA strongly supports the establishment of Independent Shari?a Arbitration Panel in Ekiti and Oyo states for the purpose so intended, especially where the Muslims in the states have been denied their constitutional right to a Shari?a Court of Appeal in all the states of South-Western Nigeria. The Council cannot find any legal justification for the unnecessary alarm and unwarranted resistance. All the states in the North have Shari?a Courts and some, in addition, have Customary Courts.

?The Council calls on the governors and traditional authorities in the southern part of the country, particularly the South-West, to ensure that the constitutional rights of Muslims in their respective domains are preserved and protected.?

Also speaking, the Amir of the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria, Ondo State chapter, Amir Sirajudeen Abdulazeez, said there was nothing wrong with establishing Shari?a court in the state, explaining that it was part of Muslim rights.

Abdulazeez said that the planned creation of the Shari?a Court would take place in the state sooner or later.

He described opposition against the creation of the court as oppression against the Muslims.

?For you to say that Muslims do not have the right to adjudicate their lives based on their beliefs is nothing but an affront to their constitutionally given rights. It is nothing but subjugation, exploitation, and oppression.

?If Muslims are a minority in Ondo State, can?t we talk? If it is in our constitution, can?t we demand it? If civil law has its roots in the Bible, customary law has its roots in idolatry ? why can?t Muslims speak?

?Whether Shari?a courts will happen in those states, it?s a matter of time. Muslims are agitating for it, demanding it. When the time comes, the government will listen to us. And when the time comes, the government feels like establishing it, they will establish it.?

But, the Chairman of Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, PFN, in Ondo State, Pastor Joshua Opayinka frowned at the introduction of Shari?a saying it is not possible.

Speaking with Vanguard in Akure, Pastor Opayinka said: ?That (creation of Shari?a Court) is an aberration. Why Shari?a court in Ondo State? That can never be possible. Can the same thing be replicated in the North?

?They say it is their right. Nobody can stop them. Can we have full Christian worship activities in the North? Can they allow it? If they are canvassing for that, we need to sit down at the round table and strike a balance.

?In the North, we have been marginalised. Christians in the North have not been permitted to have full operations of their Christian activities. So why are they coming here? So to come and do that, that can never be possible.?

Aligning with his counterpart in Ondo, the PFN Chairman in Oyo State, Revd Samson Ajetomobi said: ?It is essential to approach this matter with a spirit of dialogue and understanding. Our diverse society is built on a foundation of mutual respect among various religious and cultural groups.

?While some may advocate for the implementation of Shari?a law, we must consider the implications it may have on the rights and freedoms of all citizens, particularly those who do not share the same beliefs.

?We encourage constructive conversations that promote peaceful coexistence, ensuring that any legal frameworks respect our nation?s secular constitution. It is crucial to uphold justice and equity for all individuals, regardless of their faith.?

In his submission, the Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, in Oyo State, Apostle Joshua Akiyemiju said: ?While we respect the rights of individuals to practise their faith, we express our concerns about the potential implications of implementing Shari?a law in this region. It is crucial to recognise that our nation is built on a foundation of secularism and inclusivity, values that protect the rights of all citizens, regardless of their religious beliefs.

?Introducing Shari?a could create divisions and misunderstandings in our diverse society, potentially undermining the harmonious coexistence we have worked hard to build. We advocate for dialogue that emphasizes unity and the common good, ensuring that all voices are heard and respected.

Akintoye to Sultan: You?re not an overlord on Yoruba

Yoruba Self-Determination Group led by Professor Banji Akintoye, reacted to Sultan?s comments.

Without mincing words, Akintoye said: ?Your representative chose to make your statement to the Yoruba people as if you are an overlord of the Yoruba people. Your statement said in effect that Yoruba people must accept Shari?a as dictated by you. We have great respect for you as a traditional ruler, Your Highness, but in the current circumstance, because of your chosen approach, we are reluctantly compelled to spell out our response in ways that truthfully uphold our Yoruba nation?s integrity, leaving no doubt about what we know and understand as our nation?s relationship with you.

?No provision in the tenets of Islam lays the duty on our Yoruba Muslim people to accept you as leader of Islam while we Yoruba are still part of Nigeria. It has now become necessary to get rid of the presumption that you are the leader of Muslims in Yorubaland.?

Still speaking on the issue, Akintoye said: ?We want you to recognise that what you are trying to do in Yorubaland ? trying to impose your fundamentalist and Jihadist brand of Islam on Yoruba people ? will never materialize.?

Also speaking with Vanguard, Ahmed, who was the Chairman of the National Muslim Youth Organisation, NACOMYO, in Ekiti State, posited that such a narrative is the handiwork of scaremongers who lack proper knowledge of the operations of the Shari?a panel.

His words: ?I don?t see how Shari?a arbitration panel can cause a crisis because it is meant for the Muslims and only Muslims that are willing to subscribe to it. So, what does not concern an individual should not be a source of bother or worry to him. Having said that, a Shari?a panel is an alternative dispute resolution which even the laws allow to resolve disputes alternatively in a way that is different from the conventional court and makes it to be different from another arbitration process that it applies Shari?a principles and these are divine instructions, engraved in the Qur?an and the Hadith of Prophet Muhammad, so that is what it entails.

?For anybody to be saying that the existing legal process has taken care of what the Shari?a arbitration panel is out to do, is not correct. The Shari?a arbitration panel is different from the Customary Court. Customary courts only apply customary laws, customs and traditions and these are not in tandem with the Islamic principles and traditions.

?It is lack of understanding that made people equate Shari?a panel to attempt to create a crisis, after all, the common law that is in practice in our conventional courts today is of Christian origin and the Muslims are not making a fuss out of it and that has not turned our country to a Christian state.?

The President of Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, Ogun State chapter, Apostle Bello Otaru said he was not aware of any Shari?a Court operating in the state.

Apostle Otaru, who is also the General Overseer of Signs and Wonders Church, also known as Antioch Assembly said: ?PFN is not aware of the operation of Shari?a Court or plans to start one in Ogun State. In any case, we have cordial relationships with Muslim leaders in the state and we have a platform, Nigeria Inter-Religious Council, NIREC, which provides a forum for us to always iron out any contentious issue, so there is peace and religious harmony in the state and that we shall continue to uphold and sustain for the good of all.? (Vanguard)

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