The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Ibrahim Tanko Mohammed has called for the amendment of the country’s constitution to accommodate some of the peculiarities of the Shari’a law.
The CJN said this on Wednesday while declaring open the 20th Annual Judges Conference at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria Faculty of Law’s Moot Court.
Tanko, who represented by Justice Muhammad Danjuma, Grand Khadi of Niger State, said the implementation of his suggestions would be more feasible if universities give the Shari’a law its own faculty.
He said: “As we all know, there are sections of the constitution that allow the implementation of Shari’a personal law and apart from that, we cannot do more. However, we have the number to amend the constitution to suit our own position as Muslims.”
He also advocated for more judges to be learned in Shari’a as this would allow them to attend to issues that have to do with Islamic law.
He added: “The Shari’a law should be taught in Arabic not English. There is no university in Nigeria that runs Shari’a in Arabic; they all teach Shari’a in English. So, academicians let’s also look into this issue.”
Meanwhile, a Cross Section of Nigerians berated the CJN’s idea, advocating a constitution amendment to include more Shari’a content in the Constitution, describing the call ‘unacceptable’.
