In a ruling, the Court of Appeal sitting in Kano has overturned a lower court decision and upheld the application of Islamic law in the distribution of the estate of the late Major Mohammed Adeniyi.
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The judgment, delivered on August 23, 2024 by a panel of three Justices led by Justice Muhammed L. Shuaibu, is now available for download.
Major Adeniyi, a Muslim, died intestate on October 18, 2020, leaving behind an estate that included N36 million in entitlements paid by the Nigerian Army to his first daughter from a marriage conducted under the Marriage Act. His other surviving heirs, including two wives married under Islamic law and their children, had sued at the Upper Area Court for a share of the estate to be distributed per Islamic law.
The lower Sharia Court of Appeal had previously ruled that the Area Court lacked jurisdiction, holding that the Marriage Act marriage precluded the application of Islamic law to the estate. However, the Court of Appeal has now decisively ruled that the deceased’s marriage under the Act does not invalidate the application of Islamic personal law to the distribution of his estate.
The Court held that a Muslim is entitled to marry up to four wives as allowed under Islamic law, and that such marriages are distinct from marriages under native law and custom. As a Muslim, Major Adeniyi’s estate was exempt from the application of the Administration of Estates Law of Kwara State, which cannot deprive the estate from being governed by Islamic law.
The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, set aside the lower court’s judgment, and restored the Area Court’s jurisdiction to distribute the estate under Islamic law.
The full text of the judgment can be downloaded here
Major Mohammed Adeniyi TheNgeriaLawyer
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