The Supreme Council for Shariah in Nigeria (SCSN) publicly rejected pressure from the United States, including a report sent to U.S. President Donald Trump, that sought to challenge Shariah law in Nigeria.
The council’s Secretary-General, Nafiu Baba Ahmad, insisted that no foreign power can compel Nigerian Muslims to abandon Shariah, describing it as a divinely ordained, constitutional right integral to Muslim life and legal autonomy in parts of the country.
The U.S. congressional report, produced after investigations by lawmakers such as Riley Moore and Chris Smith, had recommended repealing Shariah and blasphemy laws and applying diplomatic or punitive measures in response to alleged religious persecution.
The SCSN called those claims inaccurate and warned that external intervention in Nigeria’s religious and legal systems threatens the nation’s sovereignty and peaceful coexistence.
The council reaffirmed that Shariah courts operate legally within Nigeria’s constitutional framework, urged peaceful cohabitation among faiths, and decried oversimplified narratives of “Christian genocide” as misleading.