SOKOTO, Nigeria — In what appears to be a major government shift from opposition to the implementation of sharia, the Islamic legal system, in some northern states, the vice president of Nigeria declared that the introduction of the Islamic legal system is lawful and the wish of the people.
Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, a Muslim, declared on July 7 in Sokoto that state governments in northern Nigeria that introduced the Islamic legal system did so in conformity with the wishes and aspirations of their people.
“This is a democratic setting. They have the right to do the wish of their people and I don’t think that should bother anybody,” the vice president said. “There is no way you can be a Muslim and divorce yourself from sharia.”
Sunday Mbang, president of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), said it was unfortunate that Nigeria’s political leaders have been using religion to divide the people of the country. He said the action of the governors (of northern Nigeria) who had adopted the Islamic legal code were politically motivated rather than religiously motivated.
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