Supreme Sharia Council Rejects US Call to Repeal Sharia

ABUJA, NIGERIA – The Supreme Council for Shariah in Nigeria (SCSN) has firmly rejected a call by United States lawmakers to repeal Sharia law, describing the proposal as misinformed and a direct challenge to the country’s sovereignty.

In a strongly worded statement, the council insisted that no external power can compel Nigerian Muslims to abandon Sharia, which it described as a complete way of life covering spiritual, moral, social and legal matters.

SCSN Secretary General Nafiu Baba Ahmad said Sharia cannot be relinquished in the face of external pressure, misinformation or political intimidation. He stressed that the practice remains constitutionally protected and forms an integral part of Muslim life in Nigeria.

Sharia operates alongside statutory and customary laws in 12 northern states, where it was formally introduced in 1999. It governs personal, family and some criminal matters for consenting Muslims in those states.

NaijaChoice News reports that the SCSN also dismissed claims of a targeted “Christian genocide” in the country. The council said such framing misrepresents Nigeria’s broader security challenges, including banditry, terrorism and governance failures that have claimed lives across religious lines.

The US lawmakers, in a report submitted to the White House in February, urged Nigeria to scrap Sharia and anti-blasphemy laws as part of efforts to address violence against Christians. They also called for a security pact to protect vulnerable communities and threatened to withhold funding until concrete action is taken.

West Virginia Republican Riley Moore, who led the probe alongside Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole of Oklahoma, said the measures were necessary to dismantle jihadist networks.

The SCSN countered that Nigeria’s plural legal system and multi-religious society must be respected. External interference in domestic religious matters, the council warned, is both unwarranted and likely to inflame tensions.

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation with roughly 230 million people evenly split between Muslims and Christians, continues to grapple with complex ethnic and resource-based conflicts in addition to terrorism linked to groups like Boko Haram.

The Nigerian government is yet to issue an official response to the US recommendations. The SCSN’s position underscores the deep sensitivity surrounding Sharia in the north and its place within the 1999 Constitution.