Ekiti monarch dissolves Shari’ah panel, summons Islamic leaders

The Ewi of Ado-Ekiti, Oba Rufus Adejugbe, has ordered the Chief Imam of Ekiti State, Alhaji Jamiu Kewulere, to dissolve the Shari’ah panel constituted by the state central mosque.

Tribune Online had reported the inaugural sitting of the panel in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, where it adjudicated over marriage disputes.

The panel, presided over by three Kadhis—Imam Abdullahi Abdul-Mutolib, Imam Abdulraheem Junaid-Bamigbola, and Dr Ibrahim Aminullahi-Ogunrinde—adjudicated on two marriage-related disputes, saying the move is aimed at providing arbitration based on Islamic jurisprudence.

However, the state government, through a statement by the State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Dayo Apata, SAN, said that the Independent Sharia Arbitration Panel is not in the judicial structure of the state and would not be allowed in the state.

Speaking on Saturday during a meeting with Ewi-in-Council and the leadership of the Muslim community in the state in his palace, Oba Adejugbe said the mood of the nation would not warrant the setting up of such a panel in the mosque.

The traditional ruler, who expressed worry over the reactions already generated by the existence of the Shari’ah panel in the state, said if not dissolved, it might lead to an avoidable crisis in society.

He said, “It appears they set up a committee at the central mosque to listen to disputes, and they might have a good intention being an internal arrangement within them.

“But I told them the mood of the nation will not allow that to happen, and that they should revert to how our founding fathers were settling disputes in the past without setting up a special committee or panel.

“The Chief Imam is an intelligent person and a humble man and I have told them to dissolve the committee because if we allow that, the Christian and traditional communities might want to set up their own committee too and before you know it, it will lead to a crisis.

“So, nobody should go ahead with anything of such here and we will monitor them, knowing full well the central mosque is in front of the palace. No Shari’a panel in Ekiti state and the one they constituted stands dissolved forthwith.”

Defending the constitution of the Shari’a panel, Kewulere, who is the president of the League of Imams in South West, Edo, and Delta states, denied being influenced by external forces in setting up the panel.

He argued that the panel was put together to basically intervene in resolving marital and family issues in the mosque and ensuring peaceful coexistence in society.

“All we want here in Ekiti is peace, we don’t want anything else apart from that. We made a committee to settle disputes among couples in the Islamic religion.

“Sharia is not what people say it is, for you to summon us to the palace it’s also Shari’a. We are using it to resolve issues.

“The reason for this Sharia is the issue of inheritance (distribution of will) and marriage, it’s very common among us (Muslims). We want to be using it to settle it among ourselves to avoid violence or crisis,” he said.

Following the monarch’s pronouncement, the Muslim leaders declined to speak with the press when approached after the meeting.

  READ MORE FROM: NIGERIAN TRIBUNE