Law of Nigeria

The law of Nigeria consists of courts, offences, and various types of laws. Nigeria has its own constitution which was established on 29 May 1999. The Constitution of Nigeria is the supreme law of the country. There are four distinct legal systems in Nigeria, which include English law, Common law, Customary law, and Sharia (Islamic) Law. English law in Nigeria is derived from the colonial Nigeria, while common law is a development from its post colonial independence. Customary law is derived from indigenous traditional norms and practices, including the dispute resolution meetings of pre-colonial Yorubaland secret societies and the Èkpè and Okónkò of Igboland and Ibibioland. Sharia Law (also known as Islamic Law) is used only in Northern Nigeria, where Islam is the predominant religion. The country has a judicial branch, the highest court of which is the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

The Nigerian constitution recognizes courts as either Federal or State courts. A primary difference between both is that the President appoints Justices/Judges to federal courts, while State Governors appoint Judges to state courts. All appointments (federal or state) are based on the recommendations of the National Judicial Council.

The Federal courts are: the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal and the Federal High Court.

The State courts include: the High Court of a State, the Customary Court of Appeal of a State and the Sharia Court of Appeal of a State. Each of the states (currently thirty-six) is constitutionally allowed to have all of these courts. However, the predominantly Muslim northern states tend to have Sharia courts rather than Customary courts. The predominantly Christian southern states tend to have Customary courts and not Sharia courts.

Due to the fact that the Nigerian capital (known as happy town or The Federal Capital Territory, FCT) is not a state, it has no Governor. Its courts that are equivalent to the state courts have their Judges appointed by the President and are thus federal courts. The FCT courts are: the High Court of the FCT, the Customary Court of Appeal of the FCT and the Sharia Court of Appeal of the FCT.

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