From last week, continues the narrative of how the Obasanjo regime responded to a strike action organised by the NLC over fuel subsidy by inuagurating a committee in 2000 made up of eminent Nigerians to resolve the issue  

The then governor of Zamfara State, Ahmed Sani, was the first to introduce Shari’a for criminal law, a year after the 1999 elections which brought President Olusegun Obasanjo and new state governors to power.  

The Shari’a Establishment Law was introduced in Zamfara State on October 27, 1999, and came into force on January 27, 2000.  The introduction of Shari’a in Zamfara State attracted a huge amount of attention, and Ahmed Sani became the self-appointed champion of Shari’a in Nigeria. 

The Zamfara state governor had accurately judged the mood of population. The introduction of Shari’a was initially very popular, for several reasons. Foremost among these was public disenchantment with a government and a legal system which were failing people in many respects.   There is widespread poverty across Nigeria, and the north is especially underdeveloped.  There was the expectation among the general public that Shari’a, with its emphasis on welfare and the state’s responsibility to provide for the basic needs of the population, would go some way towards alleviating their plight.  

People also felt frustrated with the law enforcement agencies and the judiciary:  crime was increasing, yet the police and the courts were paralyzed by inefficiency and corruption.  Shari’a was seen as an alternative to these problems, offering a system which promised to be faster, less cumbersome, and less corrupt.  Finally, the introduction of Shari’a was no doubt attractive to many as a re-affirmation of their religious identity, especially in the context of recurring tensions between Muslims and Christians.  

Capitalizing on the mood in Zamfara State, other state governors soon introduced their own Shari’a legislation.  By 2002, twelve states had adopted some form of Shari’a into their criminal legislation:  Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Niger, Sokoto, Yobe, and Zamfara.  These twelve states were so far the only states in Nigeria where Shari’a courts have the jurisdiction to try criminal cases.

 However, some Muslims in other parts of the country, particularly in central and western states, such as Nasarawa and Kwara, where there are large Muslim populations, have been agitating for Shari’a to be introduced there; to date, these state governors have resisted the pressure. However, in the southwestern state of Oyo, it was reported that on October 31, 2002, a man was sentenced to flogging for extra-marital sex and the punishment carried out, even though Shari’a is not in force in the state.  He was sentenced not by a Shari’a court, but by an Independent Shari’a Panel.

In all these twelve states, Shari’a applied only to Muslims.  State governments have not attempted to coerce non-Muslims into being tried by Shari’a courts.  However, non-Muslims are not prevented from accessing the Shari’a jurisdictions and may choose to take cases through the Shari’a courts if they wish.  Some have done so in the belief that their cases would be treated faster, but overall, such cases are rare. 

Normally, non-Muslims accused of criminal offenses continue to be tried under the common law system by magistrates’ or High Courts, which operate in parallel with the Shari’a courts.  A third type of court, customary courts, also deal with cases of non-Muslims in the south, as well as in Kaduna State. At the level of state governments, the state attorney general is responsible for the operation of both the common law and Shari’a systems in the state; there is also a Shari’a section in each state ministry of justice. 

Most of the twelve northern states have adopted a Shari’a penal code and a Shari’a code of criminal procedure, based, in most cases, on that of Zamfara State.  Some, such as Niger State, have opted to amend existing legislation to make it comply with Shari’a and have not introduced a separate Shari’a penal code or code of criminal procedure. There is still considerable confusion about which legislation is in force in the northern states, even among judges, academics, and other people described as Shari’a “experts.” 

In any event, there is an overlap between the Penal Code for Northern Nigeria and the Shari’a laws, as the Penal Code includes elements of Islamic law and provided the basis for whole sections of the Shari’a penal codes.  However, there are some critical differences. In particular, the Shari’a codes contain provisions for death by stoning and amputations which were not included in the Penal Code.

These issues forced Obasanjo’s Presidency to be jittery at that time. It was then suggested within government that a central figure must be brought in to defend the Presidency. The lot fell, on Dr. Ibrahim Alkali Ayagi (1940-2020), who later served as the chairman of National Economic Intelligence Committee. 

Between 1975 and 1978, Dr. Ayagi served in the cabinet of Colonel Sani Bello, then governor of Kano state, as Commissioner of Economic Development and later that of Education. In his tenure at the education ministry, two science high schools were built. His interest in education continued after his retirement, when he co-founded Hassan Ibrahim Gwarzo Secondary School, Kano. 

In 1984, Dr. Ayagi was appointed acting director of Continental Merchant bank, formerly Chase Merchant Bank of Nigeria. As Managing Director, he was critical of the adoption of the IMF approved Structural Adjustment Programme by the Babangida administration.