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 26, 2003NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Chief Mike Ozekhome, a lawyer and human rights activist...
Chief Mike Ozekhome, a lawyer and human rights activist prominent in the pro-democracy struggle until the military left the political centre stage in 1999, joined the national debate on the retention of the death penalty in Nigeria
- NOVEMBER 14, 2003NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
"The fact that human nature is fallible makes it inevitable...
"The fact that human nature is fallible makes it inevitable that errors can be committed by the judiciary in convicting an accused," the Nigerian daily, the Vanguard, reported
- NOVEMBER 14, 2003NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
The Upper Sharia Court in Bauchi, the capital of Bauchi...
The Upper Sharia Court in Bauchi, the capital of Bauchi state, Nigeria, overturned the adultery conviction of Yunusa Rafinchiyawa, 36, and saved him from being stoned to death
- NOVEMBER 10, 2003NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
More than 10,000 rights activists demonstrated in the...
More than 10,000 rights activists demonstrated in the Nigerian oil city of Port Harcourt to mark the eighth anniversary of the execution of writer and campaigner Ken Saro-Wiwa, witnesses said
- NOVEMBER 10, 2003NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
The attorney General and Commissioner for Justice of...
The attorney General and Commissioner for Justice of Bauchi State, Mallam Habib Aliyu warned against the abolition of the death penalty in Nigeria saying that any such attempt was an invitation for a military coup
- OCTOBER 24, 2003NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
The Tangerang District Court, Indonesia, sentenced...
The Tangerang District Court, Indonesia, sentenced to death two Nigerian nationals and fined them Rp 500 million (US$58,823) for violating Article 82 of Law No
- OCTOBER 23, 2003NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
A Nigerian court sentenced Ian Millar, a 54 year old...
A Nigerian court sentenced Ian Millar, a 54 year old British businessman, to death by hanging for murdering his 43-year-old partner Anne Marie Gale, on April 12, 2002, in their home in Lagos
- OCTOBER 7, 2003NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
The Nigerian Party for Social Democracy (PSD) commended...
The Nigerian Party for Social Democracy (PSD) commended the recent decision to acquit Amina Lawal of her adultery conviction
- SEPTEMBER 26, 2003NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Maurizio Turco and Marco Cappato (both Lista Bonino...
Maurizio Turco and Marco Cappato (both Lista Bonino MEPs), together with Ottavio Marzocchi, deposited an interrogation request at the European Parliament aimed at finding out what measures the European Council and the European Commission would take regard
- SEPTEMBER 26, 2003NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Australian politicians united in welcoming a Nigerian...
Australian politicians united in welcoming a Nigerian appeal court decision to spare Amina Lawal from death by stoning
- SEPTEMBER 26, 2003NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Foreign ministers from the 54-nation Commonwealth "spontaneously...
Foreign ministers from the 54-nation Commonwealth "spontaneously applauded" the decision of a Nigerian appeals court to spare the life of Amina Lawal, sentenced to death by stoning for adultery, Australian foreign minister Alexander Downer said
- SEPTEMBER 25, 2003NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
An Upper Shariah Court in Nigeria ruled that Amina...
An Upper Shariah Court in Nigeria ruled that Amina Lawal's conviction was invalid because she was already pregnant when Islamic Shariah law was implemented in her home province