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 12, 2001NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
A leading member of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's...
A leading member of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia party lobbied the government to intervene with a Nigerian Muslim state to spare the life of a woman due to be stoned to death under Sharia law
- DECEMBER 9, 2001NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Safiya Hussaini said of the death sentence hanging...
Safiya Hussaini said of the death sentence hanging over her: 'I felt sick when the judge passed down the sentence because of the injustice of it all
- DECEMBER 5, 2001NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
In the northern Nigerian state of Sokoto, a woman is...
In the northern Nigerian state of Sokoto, a woman is awaiting the outcome of an appeal against a conviction for adultery by an Islamic, or Sharia, court
- DECEMBER 5, 2001NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Safiya Hussaini Tudu, the Sokoto woman convicted of...
Safiya Hussaini Tudu, the Sokoto woman convicted of adultery by a Sharia court cried out for justice to be done to her
- 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