TheSultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar III, yesterday, voiced his opposition to a bill seeking to ensure men and women have equal inheritance rights. The Sultan said that the bill, which seeks equality for male and female children in the sharing of inherited family wealth or property, is against Islamic religion and, therefore, unacceptable to Muslims.
The bill also proposes that a widow is entitled to the custody of her children unless it is contrary to the interests and welfare of the children. It also seeks that a widow shall have the right to remarry any man of her choice and should have the right to a fair share in the inheritance of her late husband’s property and the right to live in her matrimonial house.
However, the Sultan said: “Our religion is our total way of life; therefore, we will not accept any move to change what Allah permitted us to do. “Islam is a peaceful religion; we have been living peacefully with Christians and followers of other religions in this country. Therefore, we should be allowed to perform our religion effectively.” He called on the Senate not to consider the bill because of its religious implications.
The Sultan also hailed the Federal Government and Nigerian Army for the capture of Sambisa Forest from Boko Haram terrorists. He made the commendation in Gusau at the closing ceremony of the 20th Zamfara State Annual Qur’anic Recitation Competition.
In his remarks, the Zamfara State Governor, Abdulaziz Yari, gave the assurance that the state government would continue to support the Qur’anic recitation competition. Governor Yari and that his wife, Asma’u, donated N500,000 to each male and female winner of the 7th category of the competition— recitation of the Qur’an with Tafsir— who are Faisal Muhammad from Shinkafi Local Government Area and Subai’a Sa’idu from Gusau Local Government Area.
