Qadi of the Shari’ah Court of Appeal, Kwara State, Justice Abdurraheem Sayi, says Muslims can create and operate Shari’ah arbitration panels in the South-West without state or traditional ruler consent.
He called South-West Shari’ah arbitration tribunal objections “legally baseless, an embarrassment to legal minds, and a mere expression of Islamophobia syndrome” that the affected states had refused to address.
On Sunday, Justice Sayi lectured on “Shari’ah in South-West Nigeria” at the University of Lagos Muslim Alumni 30th Pre-Ramadan Lecture, themed “The Transformative Power of Ramadan,” at UNILAG’s J.F. Ade Ajayi Auditorium.
The seminar, attended by Lagos State Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat, Ogun Deputy Governor Noimot Salako, and other dignitaries, dispelled regional misconceptions regarding Shari’ah law and arbitration.
Justice Sayi said, “There’s no confusion in the Nigerian Constitution” and that arbitration is a contractual affair that does not require government consent. Contract-based arbitration.
“Nobody needs the approval of the Federal Government to operate it. As powerful as the President is, his authority does not extend to approving the Constitution of an arbitration panel. It is purely contractual.”
“We don’t need the approval of any state authority, let alone a monarch. Associations, including political parties, can establish small committees to resolve disputes involving their members.
“All the Muslim panels that I know of always hold their sittings inside mosques. What business do pastors or monarchs have in this matter? Somebody should tell the monarchs to know their boundaries.”
The judge noted that the Arbitration and Mediation Act of 2023 permits private persons to organize arbitral panels and set their legal framework.
Justice Sayi noted that “there have been multiple instances where High Court judges informed litigants that they were helpless and, as a result, referred cases to the Independent Shari’ah panel.”
He asked why Muslims in Lagos, Osun, and Ogun—where they make up a large population—are denied Shari’ah courts for personal and family affairs.
The judge explained that Shari’ah panels are “not substitutes for courts but function by contract, where attendance is voluntary; however, once a person participates in the proceedings, the decision becomes binding.
“There is no single provision for Muslims in the family laws of the South-West. It’s as if we are second-class citizens or do not belong to these states.
“There is no single court in the region competent to dissolve an Islamic marriage or handle child custody cases following Islamic law. Shari’ah is a fundamental right of Muslims,” he added.