The Shadow of Sharia Over Nigerian Federalism

Abstract

The sentencing under Sharia law in Nigeria's northern state of Katsina in 2002 of a 31-year-old woman, Amina Lawal, to be stoned to death for adultery highlighted the rising religious conflict and violence that has occurred since the resumption of civilian democratic governance in 1999. Although the practice of Sharia in personal and civil matters had been accommodated by the British and by Nigeria's various constitutions, what was new in 1999 was the extension of Sharia from civil to criminal matters, thus producing such punishments as decapitation, amputation, and stoning to death, threatening the well-being of non-Muslims, endangering fundamental rights protected by Nigeria's federal Constitution, and posing significant challenges to elected officials and federal courts. The extension of Sharia to criminal law in 12 northern states also has increased intercommunal and intergovernmental conflict, threatening the fabric of Nigerian federalism.

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