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
- DECEMBER 5, 2001NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Safiya Hussaini's lawyer, a man called Abdulkadar Imam...
Safiya Hussaini's lawyer, a man called Abdulkadar Imam Ibrahim, does not inspire confidence
- DECEMBER 3, 2001NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
A Nigerian sharia court of appeal ordered a stay of...
A Nigerian sharia court of appeal ordered a stay of execution for a woman sentenced to be stoned to death for having sex outside of marriage, despite her contention that she was raped, officials said
- DECEMBER 3, 2001NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Scores of women carrying placards and chanting songs...
Scores of women carrying placards and chanting songs stormed Governor Bola Tinubu's Office in Alausa pleading for Safiya Hussaini's life
- DECEMBER 2, 2001NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
An NGO based in Abuja, the Multmedia Centre for Democracy,...
An NGO based in Abuja, the Multmedia Centre for Democracy, decried the death sentence passed on Safiya Hussaini in Sokoto state
- DECEMBER 2, 2001NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Halima Abdullahi, director of Help Eliminate Loneliness...
Halima Abdullahi, director of Help Eliminate Loneliness and Poverty, HELP, a non-governmental organisation, said the verdict condemning Safiya Hussaini to death by stoning for adultery "was a thorough embarrassment" to the majority of Nigerian Muslims
- NOVEMBER 27, 2001NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
As the controversy over the death sentence passed on...
As the controversy over the death sentence passed on Safiya Tungar-Tudu for adultery continued, an Islamic Scholar, Abdulfattai Adeyemi, urged the Sokoto Sharia committee to exercise restraint in carrying out the punishment
- NOVEMBER 23, 2001NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
"Safiya Hussaini was in court on November 22," Sokoto...
"Safiya Hussaini was in court on November 22," Sokoto state spokesman Mustapha Shehu told Reuters by phone from Sokoto city
- NOVEMBER 21, 2001NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Etim Okpoyo, Nigerian Ambassador to Rome, assured Hands...
Etim Okpoyo, Nigerian Ambassador to Rome, assured Hands Off Cain that the Federal Government will not allow Safiya Hussaini to be stoned to death
- NOVEMBER 19, 2001NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
The House of Representatives Committee on Women and...
The House of Representatives Committee on Women and Youth Development intervened in the case of a woman, Safiya Hussaini sentenced to death by a Sharia court for committing adultery saying it had persuaded the Speaker, Hon
- NOVEMBER 19, 2001NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
A Sharia court in Gusau Local Gov-ernment Area of Zamfara...
A Sharia court in Gusau Local Gov-ernment Area of Zamfara State sentenced a 40-year-old man, Nagogo Kakumi, to 40 strokes of the cane and two months imprisonment for contravening the Sharia law by marrying five wives at the same time
- NOVEMBER 15, 2001NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
For the very first time since the reintroduction of...
For the very first time since the reintroduction of the Shari'ah legal system in Nigeria, a man, Sani Rodi, was sentenced to death by knifing
- NOVEMBER 13, 2001NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
The Sokoto State government declared that the Federal...
The Sokoto State government declared that the Federal Government can not change the judgement of death sentence by stoning [for adultery] passed on Hajiya Safiyatu Husseini by the Gwadabawa Upper Sharia Court