An Islamic human rights organisation, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), has urged the National Assembly to amend the constitution to allow for the establishment of Sharia courts in all South West states, as well as the declaration of Fridays as public holidays to accommodate Muslim worship.....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶

The call was made during the South West Zonal Public Hearing on the constitutional review. MURIC’s Founder and Executive Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola, made the presentation through Dr. Jamiu Busari, a senior member of the group, before the Senate Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution.

Akintola argued that the proposed changes would promote inclusivity and better protect the rights of Muslims in the South West, where, he claimed, Muslims constitute a significant portion—if not the majority—of the population.

“There is currently no Sharia court in the South West, despite the strong presence of Muslims in the region. This stands in contrast to the pre-colonial Yoruba era when Islamic legal systems were widely practiced,” he said.

He called for the establishment of Sharia Courts of Appeal in all South Western states—including Edo State—citing their considerable Muslim populations. Akintola clarified that such courts would deal exclusively with Muslim personal and religious matters and would not apply to non-Muslims.

MURIC also demanded constitutional recognition of Fridays as work-free days for Muslims, noting that in the pre-colonial era, Thursdays and Fridays served as weekends in Islamic societies.

“Currently, Nigeria recognises Saturday and Sunday as the weekend, both of which favour Christian worship. This arrangement was imposed by colonial authorities and later expanded under General Yakubu Gowon’s administration to accommodate Seventh-Day Adventists,” Akintola stated.

He described the current weekend structure as lacking religious balance and urged that Fridays be declared official rest days to reflect Nigeria’s religious diversity.

The group also highlighted an imbalance in the country’s public holidays, claiming five of eight national holidays cater to Christian observances, while only three are Muslim festivals. They proposed that the Islamic New Year (Hijrah) be recognised as a national public holiday, noting that it already enjoys state-level recognition in some parts of the country.

On marriage rights, Akintola decried the non-recognition of Islamic (Nikkah) marriages by some government institutions, contrasting it with the widespread legal recognition granted to Christian marriages conducted in churches or registries.

“It is discriminatory for a democratic society to accept the marriage certificates of one religious group while denying another. This inequality must be addressed,” he said.

MURIC called for equal legal recognition of Islamic marriage certificates to ensure Muslim couples are not marginalised in official or civil matters.

Also supporting the demand, the Muslim Ummah of South West Nigeria (MUSWEN) advocated for judicial reforms to accommodate Sharia Courts and proposed the establishment of courts specialising in Islamic finance to align with Muslim economic principles.

In response, Deputy Senate President Jubrin Barau, represented by Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele, assured the public that all submissions would be reviewed and duly presented to the National Assembly for further consideration.

According to NAN, several other civil society organisations, including youth, student, and women’s groups, also made presentations during the public hearing.

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