NIGERIA: SHARIA, STILL POLITICALLY RELEVANT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ABUJA 002230 SIPDIS NOFORN SIPDIS STATE FOR AF/W, INR/AA E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/19/2017 TAGS: PGOV PINR PHUM KDEM KISL NI SUBJECT: NIGERIA: SHARIA, STILL POLITICALLY RELEVANT ABUJA 00002230 001.2 OF 003 Classified By: CDA Lisa Piascik for Reasons 1.4 (b, c & d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Nafiu Ahmed, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council for Sharia in Nigeria (SCSN),excoriated former Zamfara governor Ahmed Yerima for manipulating the sentiments of average northern Nigerians in his 2000 bid to re-introduce Sharia criminal law across 12 northern states. However, Ahmed opined, while Yerima was successful in putting forward the Sharia issue precisely because it was politically popular at the time, its implementation has been lackluster and incomplete. Ahmed dismissed assertions the Sharia is politically irrelevant and said in the lead-up to the April 2007 elections, the SCSN secretly financed campaigns for certain northern governors in exchange for assurances that these governors would fund the SCSN's plans to send Sharia court judges for training to Islamic seminaries in the Middle East. Ahmed added that he is attempting to exploit the popularity of the "Sharia issue" in the North by pressuring the governors of Kogi, Nassarawa, and Adamawa to expand Sharia criminal legislation in their respective states. Given that these are religiously-heterogeneous areas, this may exacerbate the already tense relations between Christians and Muslims in these states and further raise the constitutionality of Sharia criminal law in Nigeria. ¶2. (C//NF) SUMMARY CONT'D: Moreover, Dr. Ibrahim Na'iya Sada (protect),Ahmadu Bello University Professor of Islamic Law, bemoaned the lack of seriousness of the northern political elites and their unwillingness to allow interest in the re-introduction of Sharia criminal law to develop organically and over time, rather than forcing its implementation in order to achieve political ends. Sada claimed the northern governors, led by former governor Yerima, "bought" the support of the Islamic leadership in the North, pressured State Assemblies to ratify hastily drafted Sharia criminal legislation, and forced poorly trained Sharia court judges to try individuals under newly-adopted Sharia criminal laws with scant regard to due process. Sada lamented that the manner in which several northern states adopted Sharia criminal law in 2000 highlighted the northern elite's "obsession" with asserting the North's distinctive character rather than for 
"truly" implementing Sharia criminal law with its stated objective of fighting corruption and alleviating suffering. While many Nigerians have criticized the Sharia's implementation as inadequate or unjust, this does not/not diminish the popularity of the Sharia among average Nigerian Muslims. And, while the Sharia issue did not play a role in the 2007 elections, it remains a symbol of regional pride for many northerners. END SUMMARY. ¶3. (C) PolOff spoke with Nafiu Ahmed, Secretary-General of the Kaduna-based Supreme Council for Sharia in Nigeria (SCSN) on September 25 to assess the state of Sharia implementation across the North. While critical of the self-aggrandizing manner in which former Zamfara governor Ahmed Yerima (of the All Nigeria People's Party (ANPP),and currently, the Senate Minority Whip) championed the re-introduction of Sharia criminal law in 2000, Ahmed dismissed assertions the Sharia is no longer politically relevant. ¶4. (C) Nafiu Ahmed said the SCSN was formed in 2000 to pressure northern governors to accept the "wish of the majority" of their populations and establish a legislative framework for the implementation of Sharia criminal law. At the time, then-governor Yerima promised that the revamped Sharia statutes would mitigate corruption and re-introduce morality into the Nigerian polity. By 2004, however, Ahmed charged, Yerima had proved deceitful, even perfidious, as Yerima did nothing to fulfill his promises. Despite Yerima's "dishonesty," Ahmed remarked, the Sharia represented a powerful symbol, which no northern governor could afford to ignore. To that end, in the lead up to the April 2007 elections the SCSN secretly helped finance campaigns for certain first-term governors, whom Ahmed declined to identify by name. (Note: The northern states in which first-term governors were elected in April: Jigawa, Katsina, Kebbi, Nassarawa, Niger, Plateau, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe, Zamfara. End Note.). ¶5. (C) In exchange for delivering a political base of support, Ahmed said, these northern governors agreed to bankroll the Supreme Council with state funds. While several ABUJA 00002230 002 OF 003 states, particularly Bauchi, Kano, Katsina, and Zamfara quickly moved to institute Sharia criminal statutes in 2000, Ahmed argued, these laws were inadequately and improperly enforced, attributing the failure in implementation to continual "intimidation" from Christian organizations on northern governors as well as the unwillingness of "secular-minded Muslims (including, former Katsina governor Umaru Yar'Adua) at the helm of affairs" to "carry out divine will." To achieve greater implementation of Sharia criminal law, Ahmed said, the SCSN is quietly pressuring certain northern governors to allocate state funds to train Sharia court judges and build reference libraries and Sharia courts in the northern states. The eventual aim of the SCSN is to convince state governments to sponsor judges to study at Islamic seminaries in Sudan, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan. ¶6. (C) In addition, Ahmed maintained that the SCSN is attempting to exploit the importance of the "Sharia issue" in the North, in part, by pressuring the governors of Kogi, Nassarawa, and Adamawa to expand Sharia criminal legislation in their respective states. (COMMENT: Since 2000, Sharia criminal law has been widely adopted in the far northern states including Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Kebbi, Kaduna, Kano, Yobe, Jigawa, Katsina, Zamfara, Sokoto, and Niger, which are Muslim-majority states. Kogi, Nassarawa, and Adamawa, however, are states with equal populations of Christians and Muslims. By attempting to "pressure" governors of these states to adopt Sharia criminal law and expand the jurisdiction of Sharia courts to hear cases involving criminal cases may exacerbate the already tense relations between Christians and Muslims in these states. While the Nigerian Constitution expressly prohibits Christians from appearing before a Sharia court, or being made subject to Sharia criminal law, in practice, many Christians have chosen to do so because the secular legal system has become dysfunctional in many areas. This reality may eventually bring the issue of the constitutionality of Sharia criminal legislation to the Supreme Court. The constitutionality of the Sharia criminal laws continues to be challenged at the High Court level of individual states, but has not yet been challenged with vigor at the federal level because the Obasanjo administration was unwiling to do so for political reasons. END COMMENT.) ¶7. (C//NF) On October 15, Dr. Ibrahim Na'iya Sada (protect) discussed the same issues, noting that the greatest hurdle to "proper" implementation of Sharia has been the lack of "seriousness" and "willingness" of the northern political elites to allow interest in Sharia criminal law to develop organically and over time. Instead, Sada observed, the northern governors goaded "seemingly unsuspecting average Nigerians" to assent to the notion that the implementation of Sharia criminal law was keeping in line with "being good, obedient Muslims." ¶8. (C//NF) Sada believed the northern governors unfairly and routinely pressured State Assemblies to hurriedly ratify Sharia criminal legislation. The manner in which several northern states adopted Sharia criminal statutes, all of which Sada claimed he drafted hastily "under duress" is, according to Sada, a telling sign of the northern governors (and northern political "elite's") "obsession" with asserting regional autonomy over "truly" implementing Sharia criminal law for its stated objective of fighting corruption and instantiating accountability for public leaders. ¶9. (C//NF) For, asserted Sada, if northern leaders were interested in "truly" implementing Sharia criminal law for public good, they would have permitted Sharia court judges, Islamic scholars, and members of civil society the time and funds to generate such complex legislation as Sharia criminal statutes. (COMMENT: Certainly, the most alarming aspect of the efforts to implement Sharia criminal law since 2000 has been the almost total disregard for the actual content of Sharia criminal statutes, including criminal procedure provisions across the 12 northern states. Sharia law, like other judicial systems, is complicated and often only understood by experts. By forcing individuals who have inadequate knowledge of Sharia law into positions where they will have not only to draft complicated Sharia criminal codes for use in a modern, multi-ethnic, multi-religious polity, but also to do so in a hasty manner signals a lack of both ABUJA 00002230 003 OF 003 seriousness and concern for its impact on average Nigerians. END COMMENT.) ¶10. (C//NF) Instead, Sada bewailed, these governors "forced" Sharia court judges to try individuals under newly-adopted Sharia criminal laws with scant regard to due process. Without funding to train Sharia court judges ) most of whom Sada feels lack the requisite knowledge of criminal law and criminal procedure to be competent and effective ) the Sharia has become a pawn in a political game, little to do with reforming society or improving governance, Sada contended. The Islamic leadership in the North is partly to blame, Sada added. Sada claimed former Zamfara governor Ahmed Yerima "bought" support from the Islamic leadership (including, Islamic scholars and emirs) in 1999 in order to gain their buy-in and public support for the Sharia. Sada lamented that, whereas the Islamic leadership, particularly Islamic scholars, were meant to "checkmate" the excesses and caprice of political leaders, in practice, because they benefit from government patronage, they did not and will not challenge the northern governors. ¶11. (C) COMMENT: The implementation of Sharia criminal law remains an important, albeit contentious issue in the North. While human rights organizations and certain Islamic scholars have decried the inequitable manner in which Sharia laws have been enforced, particularly on the poor, very rarely do we hear that Sharia laws should be scrapped completely. Indeed, our sense is that most northerners continue ro support the presence of the Sharia legal system, including the criminal code, despite its failure to provide an effective check on elite corruption. ¶12. (C) COMMENT CONT'D: While former governor Yerima exploited the Sharia's popularity for political gain in 2000, in this year's election, by contrast, the Sharia issue did not play a significant role. The earlier clamor for Sharia may have been due, in large part, to the northern elites' reaction to the ascendancy of Obasanjo ) a vociferous southern, evangelical Christian ) and concern by many northerners at their own apparent decline in influence. However, in 2007, with the three leading presidential candidates being Muslim and from the North, this concern, adn with it, concern about the Sharia's political significance may have been less. END COMMENT. PIASCIK