Southwest governors lack power to stop Shari’ah panels -Justice Abdurraheem Sayi

Justice Abdurraheem Sayi, the Qadi of the Shari’ah Court of Appeal, has dismissed the objections to Shari’ah arbitration panels in the Southwest as an expression of Islamophobia.

Justice Sayi said the approval of state authorities or traditional rulers is not needed to establish Shari’ah arbitration panels in the Southwest.

According to him, the objection is “legally baseless” and an embarrassment to legal minds.

The judge said this while delivering a lecture at the University of Lagos Muslim Alumni 30th Pre-Ramadan Lecture, where he spoke on the topic of “Shari’ah in Southwest Nigeria.”

Justice Sayi said, “There’s no confusion in the Nigerian Constitution. Arbitration is by contract”, adding that arbitration is a contractual matter requiring no government approval.

“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,” he said.

He emphasised that Southwest Muslims do not need the permission or approval of any religious bodies or traditional rulers to operate Shari’ah panels.

“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,” he said.

He explained that the Arbitration and Mediation Act of 2023 allows private citizens to form arbitral panels and also grants them the authority to determine the legal framework governing such panels.

According to him, “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 maintained that Muslims in Lagos, Osun and Ogun, where they form a significant part of the population, should not be denied legal structures such as Shariah courts where their personal and family matters can be addressed.

“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,” Justice Sayi clarified.

While calling on Southwest governments to allow the establishment of Shari’ah panels, he explained that “There is no single provision for Muslims in the family laws of the Southwest. 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.”