Edo monarch in Nigeria opposes Senate’s plan to amend inheritance law

Otaru of Auchi, Aliru Momoh Ikelebe III

A monarch in Edo State, the Otaru of Auchi, Aliru Momoh Ikelebe III, yesterday opposed the Senate’s proposal to alter the laws guiding inheritance in the country.

The monarch, who is the state Chairman of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (SCIA) spoke at an event to mark the 20th annual Auchi Day.

Momoh urged the Senate to drop the idea because the Holy Quran had clearly stipulated how the property of a deceased person could be shared.

He promised to “lead a spiritual Jihad against the Senate if it doesn’t drop the plan to alter the inheritance that is provided in the Quran.”

According to him, his community had judiciously been guided by that provision over the years, adding that he would resist any attempt to enact a contrary law in that regard.

“The bill about inheritance has been passed over 1,500 years ago by the Almighty God in the Quran and nobody is capable of altering that. We have the Sharia law where the issue of inheritance had been decided and in Auchi, we have a committee that deals with the sharing of inheritance.

“The sharing formula is done in a way that ensures that justice is done. It is taken from the Quran and not the Hadith, which specified how inheritance should be shared and we have had peace in our community,” he said.

While acknowledging that people have the free volition to decise what they want, he said that decision was limited by the Almighty God.

He warned the lawmakers against “touching the inheritance that God had given to us, “otherwise problems would come.”

Momoh urged support for President Muhammadu Buhari who he described as God-sent and commended him for defeating Boko Haram in the Sambisa forest and reducing militancy in the Niger Delta.

The state governor, Godwin Obaseki, said Auchi kingdom was pivotal to his administration and promised to create jobs in the area.

Represented by the chairman, Edo State Inland Revenue Service (EIRS), Oseni Elamah, he promised to revive the fertiliser company that was abandoned by the previous administrations.