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 9, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Safiya Hussaini, the Nigerian woman sentenced to death...
Safiya Hussaini, the Nigerian woman sentenced to death by stoning for adultery in Nigeria, and saved in part by worldwide mobilisation in her favour, has become a citizen of Rome
- SEPTEMBER 9, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Rome conferred honorary citizenship on a Nigerian woman...
Rome conferred honorary citizenship on a Nigerian woman who was sentenced to death by stoning by an Islamic court but acquitted on appeal after an international outcry
- SEPTEMBER 9, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Muslim leaders in northern Nigeria condemned the honorary...
Muslim leaders in northern Nigeria condemned the honorary citizenship conferred on Safiya Hussaini by the Rome city council, and accused Italian leaders of seeking to convert her to Christianity
- SEPTEMBER 9, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
The Rome city council said that Safiya was a "symbol...
The Rome city council said that Safiya was a "symbol of our commitment to fighting the inequality of women and defending human rights around the world
- SEPTEMBER 8, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Following an international outcry against harsh sentences...
Following an international outcry against harsh sentences passed by Sharia courts in Nigeria, particularly on the Amina Lawal and Safiya cases, a prominent Islamic group in the North, the Jama'atu Nasril Islam (JNI) declared that the implementation of the
- SEPTEMBER 8, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
The Sokoto State Governor, Alhaji Dalhatu Bafarawa,...
The Sokoto State Governor, Alhaji Dalhatu Bafarawa, said that he would write a letter to President Olusegun Obasanjo, asking him to explain why the Federal Government issued a passport to Safiya Hussaini Tungar-Tudu to enable her attend a ceremony in Rome
- SEPTEMBER 8, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Nigeria's Constitutional Rights Project (CRP) has asked...
Nigeria's Constitutional Rights Project (CRP) has asked for the intervention of the Federal Government to save Amina Lawal from being stoned to death
- SEPTEMBER 5, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
A sharia appeals court in Nigeria ordered a man sentenced...
A sharia appeals court in Nigeria ordered a man sentenced to death by stoning for raping a nine-year-old girl to appear at a hearing later in September, defence lawyers said
- SEPTEMBER 4, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
The International Federation of Human Rights Leagues...
The International Federation of Human Rights Leagues (FIDH) sent a delegation to evaluate the application of Islamic Sharia law and its human rights implications in northern Nigeria, sources close to the Federation said in Paris
- SEPTEMBER 3, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
The Tanzania Gender Net-working Programme (TGNP) and...
The Tanzania Gender Net-working Programme (TGNP) and Feminist Activism Coalition (FemAct) urged Tanzania to boycott the forthcoming Miss World beauty pageant to be held in Nigeria in protest of against country's death penalty by stoning for women convicte
- SEPTEMBER 2, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Prime Minister John Howard described the death sentence...
Prime Minister John Howard described the death sentence by stoning given to Amina Lawal in Nigeria for having a child out of wedlock, as sickening and said he would relay his feelings to the country's president
- SEPTEMBER 2, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Usman Umaru, father of Fatimah Usman, a woman sentenced...
Usman Umaru, father of Fatimah Usman, a woman sentenced to death by stoning along with her lover for adultery, accused the trial Judge of demanding and receiving 8,900 Naira (about $71) bribe from him