Nigeria
2026
- GOVERNMENT
- federal presidential republic
- CONSTITUTION
- a new constitution was adopted in 1999
- LEGAL SYSTEM
- based on English common law, Islamic law (in 12 northern states), and tribal norms
- LEGISLATIVE SYSTEM
- bicameral, Senate and House of Representatives
- JUDICIAL SYSTEM
- Supreme Court (judges appointed by the Provisional Government Council); Federal Court of Appeal (judges appointed by the federal government on the recommendation of the Advisory Judicial Committee)
RELIGIONS
50% Muslims, 40% Christians, 10% local beliefs
From the country
- SEPTEMBER 27, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
The Law Society of South Africa (LSSA) appealed to...
The Law Society of South Africa (LSSA) appealed to the Nigerian government to set aside the ruling of the Sharia Court that sentenced Amina Lawal to death by stoning for having had a baby outside wedlock
- SEPTEMBER 25, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
The plight of a mother sentenced to death by stoning...
The plight of a mother sentenced to death by stoning for adultery in Nigeria drew bipartisan condemnation from female MPs in the New South Wales parliament
- SEPTEMBER 25, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Prosecutors urged an Islamic court in northwestern...
Prosecutors urged an Islamic court in northwestern Nigeria to throw out an appeal by a man sentenced to death by stoning for raping a young girl because his insanity claim was untenable
- SEPTEMBER 24, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Former US President Bill Clinton expressed hope that...
Former US President Bill Clinton expressed hope that the Nigerian legal system would find a way of pardoning Amina Lawal
- SEPTEMBER 23, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
As indications are rife that Western creditor-nations...
As indications are rife that Western creditor-nations might withdraw their support for Nigeria's debt relief effort over the confirmation of the death sentence on Amina Lawal by a Katsina State Sharia Court of Appeal for adultery, the President of the Afr
- SEPTEMBER 23, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Australian Prime Minister John Howard said he had expressed...
Australian Prime Minister John Howard said he had expressed to Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo his concern over the case of a mother sentenced to death by stoning for adultery
- SEPTEMBER 23, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
If Amina Lawal is to die, so will the 2002 Miss World...
If Amina Lawal is to die, so will the 2002 Miss World beauty pageant
- SEPTEMBER 20, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
The International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA)...
The International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) decried the effect of the Sharia legal code introduced in some Northern states of the country, saying that the implementation of Sharia was particularly unfavourable to women
- SEPTEMBER 19, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
South Africa was totally opposed to the death by stoning...
South Africa was totally opposed to the death by stoning sentence imposed on a Nigerian woman but an Islamic Court, but the issue should be seen in the broader Nigerian context, President Thabo Mbeki said in reply to Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon d
- SEPTEMBER 18, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Prosecutors asked an Islamic court for more time to...
Prosecutors asked an Islamic court for more time to prepare the case against a Nigerian man appealing on grounds of insanity against being stoned to death for raping a young girl
- SEPTEMBER 18, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
The Australian Federal Opposition joined global calls...
The Australian Federal Opposition joined global calls for a boycott of the Miss World Pageant in Nigeria amid outrage over the planned stoning of a woman accused of adultery
- SEPTEMBER 18, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions joined Prime...
The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions joined Prime Minister Helen Clark, Green MP Sue Kedgley and the YWCA in voicing concerns about New Zealand's involvement in the Miss World pageant despite reassurances from the Nigerian Government that the decision