A former presidential aide and News anchor, Reuben Abati, has said that President Bola Tinubu cannot abolish the Shari’ah Law.
One of the recommendations made by the United States delegation is that the Nigerian government do away with Shari’ah law. Many people have suggested that the US is dictating to the Nigerian government.
Reacting, Abati said the narrative should be put in proper context. According to him, “What has happened is that on October 31, 2025, President Donald Trump directed Riley Moore, and the committee on appropriation and foreign relations to go and investigate the alleged Christian genocide in Nigeria. Now those congressional committees had their bipartisan trips. Trips were made to Nigeria. The Nigerian leaders met with the Americans, and all of that, and Riley Moore have been mandated to submit a report to President Trump.
“What they have now done is that Riley Moore, leading the investigation committee, has, with the committee on appropriation and foreign affairs, submitted a report to President Trump in the White House.
“The United States has not adopted that report. The government of Donald Trump has not made any pronouncement on that report. The Nigerian government has also not responded to it. This is the opinion of the investigative team; and what happens hereafter is when we will be able to make definitive statements”.
Talking about the recommendation that Nigeria should do away with Sharia’h law, ” Abati added: “Now, the Sharia is going to be a constitutional matter, the process of how it came about has been well articulated by Matthew Hassan Kukah, now a Bishop, in his book: ‘Religion, Politics and Power in northern Nigeria’. Now, the decision when the 1979 Constitution was being formulated, was that it will be a personal orthodoxy. Shari’ah is supposed to apply to persons who submit themselves to it.
“Abuse is the problem. So, nobody can say the President can unilaterally abolish Shari’ah. He cannot do that. If it is a constitutional matter, it will have to go through the Constitution”, he clarified.
