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
- JANUARY 14, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Safiya Hussaini won a temporary reprieve from death...
Safiya Hussaini won a temporary reprieve from death by stoning for adultery under Islamic sharia law
- JANUARY 13, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
A group of European parliamentarians sent an urgent...
A group of European parliamentarians sent an urgent appeal to safe Safiya Hussaini, the woman who risks stoning in Nigeria
- JANUARY 12, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Nigeria's embassy in Athens told a protest delegation...
Nigeria's embassy in Athens told a protest delegation that a Nigerian woman sentenced to death by stoning in the African country would be spared, Soula Panaretou, a member of the Coalition of the Left and Progress, said
- JANUARY 12, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Greek Socialist, Anna Karamanou, and around sixty other...
Greek Socialist, Anna Karamanou, and around sixty other MEPs wrote to the Nigerian Ambassador to the EU, Mr Akunwafor, demanding that the execution of Safiya Husaini Tungar-Tudu by stoning, for having committed adultery, is not carried out
- JANUARY 9, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Vandalising the abandoned Shell oil pipelines in Nigeria...
Vandalising the abandoned Shell oil pipelines in Nigeria carries the death penalty
- JANUARY 9, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Hands Off Cain adhered to the demonstration for Safiya...
Hands Off Cain adhered to the demonstration for Safiya Husseini, a Nigerian woman condemned to death by stoning for adultery by an Islamic court, organised by the Rai Radio programme Zapping, presented by Aldo Forbice
- JANUARY 7, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Prison officials in Nigeria's Katsina state remained...
Prison officials in Nigeria's Katsina state remained tight lipped about why Sani Yakubu Rodi was executed by hanging instead of by machete as his sentence stipulated
- JANUARY 3, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
A convicted murderer was hanged in northern Nigeria...
A convicted murderer was hanged in northern Nigeria in the country's first execution under Muslim sharia law, which has sparked riots in the West African country
- JANUARY 3, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
The Chief Imam of Badagry, Lagos, Alhaji Imam Muslim...
The Chief Imam of Badagry, Lagos, Alhaji Imam Muslim Olayide Huthman, speaking on the death sentence passed on Safiya Hussaini for adultery [October 2001], advised the Sokoto state government to drop the charge if they cannot get the second person
- JANUARY 1, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
"We want Sharia, the best of all the laws"
"We want Sharia, the best of all the laws" is scrawled in brown letters along the walls of the building where our meeting with the state authorities was held