Ekiti State Government has denied the existence of either the Sharia Court or the proposed Independent Sharia Arbitration Panel in the State.
In a statement made available to newsmen in Ado-Ekiti today, the State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Dayo Apata, said that the Independent Sharia Arbitration Panel is not in the judicial structure of the State, noting that “Arbitration and/or Mediation issue is a Quasi-Judicial matters which are regulated by Law” in the State.
Apata said there is existing legal structure in Ekiti State (i.e. Customary Court, Customary Court of Appeal and High Court) that has been handling issues relating to Islamic, Christian and Traditional Marriages and inheritance without any rancour or agitation.
According to him, “the Sharia Courts in the North are equivalent to the Customary Courts in the Southern part of Nigeria wherein the Appeals therefrom also goes to the Sharia Court of Appeal”, adding that “the State similarly has Customary Courts that hear customary cases as well as the Customary Court of Appeal that hears appeals from the Customary Courts”.
