Nigerians have raised suspicion over a new bill that is seeking to expand Sharia Court to other states in the country.
Abdullahi Balarabe Salame
A new bill being sponsored by Abdullahi Balarabe Salame, an All Progressives Congress (APC) member from Sokoto state to alter Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution to increase the jurisdiction of the Sharia Court has passed the second hearing in the House of Representatives.
The bill Tagged ‘Sharia Expansion Bill’, seeks to expand the jurisdiction of Sharia Court to other states.
According to TVContinental, the 55 year old Salame who is a one-time speaker of the Sokoto State House of Assembly has given five reasons the bill should be passed.
Read below:
1. Section 275 of the 1999 Constitution has already provided for the establishment of Sharia Court of appeal for every state that requires it. The bill is only expanding the jurisdiction of Sharia courts to handle criminal cases and not expanding Sharia to the whole of Nigeria.
2. The bill, if approved, will go a long way in eliminating various criminal activities experienced in the country like Islamic religious extremism.
Sharia courts can try criminal matters immediately it happens.
3. Increasing the jurisdiction of the Sharia court to cover criminal matters will greatly help in protecting women and child rights by preventing sexual harassment, r*pe and child abuses.
4. It will improve peace and unity among Muslims and Non-Muslims in the country especially in the states that are implementing Sharia.
5. The current war against corruption will be more strengthened with the passage of the bill.
Many Nigerians have demanded that all the clauses in the bill be made public for scrutiny.