Former Zamfara governor and presidential aspirant under the All Progressives Congress (APC), Sani Yerima, says he committed no offense by marrying a 13-year old girl.
Yerima justifies his action when he appeared on Channels TV.
Recall that the former governor had in 2009 married a 13-year-old Egyptian girl.
He was widely castigated for the union among child rights activists at the time but Yerima insists he did not contravene any Nigerian law.
He added that he would have been prosecuted if he committed a crime by marrying the minor.
“If I had done anything wrong, I would have been tried in court. NAPTIP wanted to try the case and they dropped the matter because I didn’t do anything wrong,” Mr Yerima said.
He added that “there is no law in Nigeria that determines when and how you get married. Muslims have Sharia, the Christians I don’t know what their doctrines say.”
A two term governor of Zamfara State between 1999-2007, Yerima, was the first governor to introduce Sharia Law later enforced in 12 northern states of Nigeria.
Critics argue that introduction of Sharia Law might have laid the foundation for Islamic fundamentalism in the country.