The governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, recently spoke against the Shari’ah. However, an Islamic human rights organization, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), has criticised the governor for failing to receive proper briefing before opposing Shari’ah.
According to a statement issued by the Executive Director of MURIC, Professor Ishaq Akintola, on Friday, 27th December, 2024, the group said Makinde spoke in ignorance of the true situation on ground. The group advised government officials to get adequate briefing before commenting on issues particularly sensitive matters like religion.
The full statement reads:
“Engr. Seyi Makinde, the executive governor of Oyo State, recently spoke against the Shari’ah in Oyo State. It is quite obvious that the governor was not properly briefed before coming out publicly to make scathing remarks about Shari’ah.
“Makinde spoke from a position of ignorance about the subject matter, particularly about the true situation on ground. It is advisable for government officials to get adequate briefing before commenting on issues particularly sensitive matters like religion.
“This is so because neither Muslims nor Christians can allow anyone, not even a governor, to ridicule their religion. That is why any government that does not want to be embarrassed should not make frivolous statements that can be debunked even by children in kindergarten classes.
*“To this end, it has come to our knowledge that shortly after some uninformed and misguided Yoruba youths declared publicly that they did not want Shari’ah in Yorubaland, Governor Makinde announced in a viral video clip that Shari’ah was not in the constitution which he swore to defend.*
“But Makinde lied. Shariah is in the constitution. It is either the governor feigned ignorance of it for reasons best known to him or he was not properly briefed. We expected the governor to have consulted the legal arm of his government before uttering that fallacious statement.
“Section 275(1) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria allows the states to establish Shari’ah Courts of Appeal. It says inter alia, ‘There shall be for any state that desires it a Shari’ah Court of Appeal for that state’. This is the reality on ground unless the governor is saying that Oyo State has been carved out of the entity called Nigeria or that his own constitution is different from what Nigerians are using.
“We find the governor leveraging on a typographical error committed by the organisers of the Shari’ah programme in Oyo town who wrote ‘the word ‘Court’ instead of ‘Panel’ in the invitation sent out which reads: ‘Inauguration Ceremony of Shariah Court in Oyo Town and its Environs’ but should have read: ‘Inauguration Ceremony of Shariah Panel in Oyo Town and its Environs’.
“The governor deliberately exploited the typographical error because we know that he cannot claim to be unaware of the existence of many Shari’ah panels in Yorubaland.
“A Shariah Panel has been sitting at the Central Mosque in Oja Oba, established since 1st May, 2002 to date. Makinde met the panel there and it will still be there when he leaves office in 2027. There is nothing he can do about that.
“Shari’ah panels are spread all over Yorubaland. It has been in Lagos since 1993. Ogun State got its own Shari’ah panel on 17th January, 2018 and its first sitting took place on 2nd February of the same year at the Egba Muslims Central Mosque, Kobiti, Abeokuta.
“Osogbo got a taste of the Shari’ah panel in 2005 and it is on record that conventional courts in Osun refer Imamate and inheritance cases to the Shari’ah panel. The latest and newest is the 11-member Ekiti State Shari’ah Arbitration Panel which was sworn in on Friday, 1st November, 2024 (https://independent.ng/ekiti-sharia-arbitration-panel-shall-dispense-justice-to-all-grand-qadi/; https://dailytrust.com/kwara-grand-kadi-inaugurates-ekiti-shariah-arbitration-panel/)
“Makinde is just grandstanding. He cannot say he is unaware of all these Shari’ah panels which are everywhere in Yorubaland. It is just that politicians cannot stop making political statements. It is semantics. Makinde simply played tricks with the words ‘court’ and ‘panel’. He knew the organisers of that event meant to write ‘panel’.
“These Shari’ah panels were established as alternative dispute settlement centres for Muslims. They are not conventional courts per se but channels for Muslims to ventilate family disputes and vehicles for tackling Muslim civil matters like inheritance, marriage and divorce which can only be understood and satisfactorily resolved by experts in Islamic law.
“Makinde just shot himself in the foot anyway. This is the same governor who is warming up for Aso Rock. After talking about our Shari’ah in this manner, we wonder how he will navigate the tortuous and windy road to the presidency in a country demographically skewed in favour of Muslims. He should remember that even Peter Obi’s ‘Yes Daddy’ mantra was to no avail.
“MURIC advises government officials and the general public in Yorubaland to understand the concept of civil Shari’ah. Yoruba youths in particular should not allow themselves to be misled by Muslim haters. Like Nigeria, Yorubaland belongs to us all. Nobody is going anywhere for anybody.
“Muslims, Christians and traditionalists must learn to peacefully coexist. We must learn to tolerate Muslim civil Shari’ah just as the Muslims have been tolerating Christian laws and their courts for decades.
“We should not allow trouble-makers, rabble-rousers and irredentists to lead us by the nose. The Muslim Shari’ah panel is for Muslims alone and it is only to settle disagreements among Muslims. No Christian can appear in our Shariah panel. It is not even a court and it has no power of enforcement in any form.
“Yoruba people must not listen to those inciting them against their Muslim neighbours. There is nothing to fear in ordinary Shari’ah panel. Beware, the Bible warns: ‘My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge, Because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee …’ (Hosea 4:6).
“We appeal to Muslims in Oyo State in particular and Yorubaland in general to ignore all forms of provocations. Islam is a religion based on knowledge and peaceful behaviour. We must therefore manifest patience and maturity at all times.”
#ShariahIsInTheConstitution
#ShariahPanelNotShariahCourt
Professor Ishaq Akintola,
Founder/Executive Director,
Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)
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