L-R: Managing Director/CEO, One17 Financial Services, Ismail Rufai; Professor of Islamic Banking and Finance, Yobe State University, Prof. Adam Abubakar, Esq.; Managing Partner, The Metropolitan Law Firm, Ummahani Amin, Partner, The Metropolitan Law Firm, Barr. Mohammed Yunusa; and Head, Private Trust, First Trustees Limited, Rotimi Obende at the Islamic Estate Planning Clinic recently held in Abuja.
First Trustees Limited, a subsidiary of First HoldCo Plc., in partnership with The Metropolitan Law Firm and Al-Ameen Trustees, hosted the 8th Annual Islamic Estate Planning Clinic in Abuja, bringing together leading experts in Islamic law, finance, and policy.
Themed “From Informality to Legacy: Structuring Islamic Wealth Transfer,” the forum highlighted the urgent need for Nigerian families to move from informal inheritance practices to professionally structured, Sharia-compliant estate planning frameworks. The event emphasized that proper estate planning ensures wealth preservation, reduces legal disputes, and protects family legacies for future generations.
Rotimi Obende, representing the Managing Director of First Trustees Limited, described estate planning as a sacred duty: “Informal arrangements expose families to avoidable risks. Structured, Sharia-compliant plans provide clarity, transparency, and true generational protection.” He also underscored the vital role of regulated trustees in executing wills and trusts to strengthen public trust and accountability.
Delivering the keynote address, Isa Ali Pantami, former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, warned against relying on verbal inheritance promises and encouraged the integration of modern technology, including blockchain, to securely store wills and estate documents while bridging Islamic principles with innovation.
Ummahani Amin, Managing Partner at The Metropolitan Law Firm, noted that Islamic inheritance law allows individuals to allocate up to one-third of their estate through properly documented wills and trusts, emphasizing that informal arrangements often create avoidable conflicts.
Participants agreed that structured Islamic estate planning provides legal certainty, tax efficiency, family unity, and long-term wealth preservation, especially in an era of increasingly complex assets, including digital holdings, cross-border investments, and business interests.
