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 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
- DECEMBER 27, 2001NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Sani Yakubu, also known as Sani Rodi, failed to appeal...
Sani Yakubu, also known as Sani Rodi, failed to appeal against the death sentence passed on him by the Katsina State Sharia court
- DECEMBER 26, 2001NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Some 3,000 people held a vigil at the Nigerian Embassy...
Some 3,000 people held a vigil at the Nigerian Embassy in Rome to call on the West African government spare the life of a woman due to be stoned to death under sharia law
- DECEMBER 21, 2001NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
A shari'ah court in Sokoto State, northern Nigeria,...
A shari'ah court in Sokoto State, northern Nigeria, ordered the amputation of the right hands and left legs of two convicted armed robbers
- DECEMBER 18, 2001NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
A legal practitioner and former Chairman of the Kaduna...
A legal practitioner and former Chairman of the Kaduna branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Daniel Enwelum, said that Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has no constitutional rights to stop the execution of the death sentence on Safiya Hussain,
- DECEMBER 17, 2001NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
The Nigerian Coalition of Women's Rights and Economic...
The Nigerian Coalition of Women's Rights and Economic Empowerment (CWREE) picked holes in the shari'ah court judgment that sentenced Safiya Hussaini, to death, saying that the death penalty runs counter to the constitution of all known international laws
- DECEMBER 16, 2001NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
An Islamic court told Safiya Hussaini, who was sentenced...
An Islamic court told Safiya Hussaini, who was sentenced to die after being found guilty of adultery, that her life will be spared if she can prove her daughter Adama, who is now almost a year old, was the result of rape
- DECEMBER 13, 2001NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
As 35-year-old Safiya Hussaini's death sentence by...
As 35-year-old Safiya Hussaini's death sentence by stoning continues to generate controversies across the globe, it appears the adultery case promises to test the restoration of Islamic law in 12 northern states