NASARAWA STATE – LEGAL SYSTEM AND PROFILE

Nasarawa State is located in the north central past of Nigeria and covers a total land area of about 27,117km². It shares its borders on the south with Benue State, on the east with Plateau and Taraba States, on the north with Kaduna State and on the west by the Federal Capital Territory and Kogi State.

The population of the State according to a recent publication of the National Population Commission is 1,869,377- Male: 943,801; Female: 925,576. Agriculture is the mainstay of the State’s economy with a large percent of the population employed in one form of agricultural activity or the other. Some of the crops produced in the State includes yam, rice, millet, cassava, soya beans, maize, ash, guinea corn, beans and beniseed. The State also has precious mineral deposits such as bauxite, columbite and salt.

Currently, the State owes its legal existence to the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. As a State, it is constitutionally mandated to establish:

1.    an Executive arm of government headed by an elected Governor;

2. a legislative arm of government which members shall be drawn from constituencies defined in the Constitution. Its activities are presided over by a Speaker elected by the members of the State House of Assembly which oversees the exercise of the State’s legislative energies;
3. a judicial arm made up of judges, magistrates and other officers that help in the administration of justice and related activities within the State. The judicial arm is headed by the State’s Chief Justice. Nonetheless, judicial pronouncement of the State’s tribunals are subject to the appellate review of the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Nigeria, in that order;
4. maintain the Local Government level of governance. Presently, the Nigerian Constitution prescribes 13 local Local Government Areas for the State; and
5. mobilize the powers of the State, the institutions and resources of  its arms and levels of government in order to secure a socio-economic environment for persons resident in the State and its other stakeholders to pursue legitimate goals in dignity under the State’s justice administration umbrella.

The Nasarawa State legal system comprises;

1. The compendium of Constitutional provisions applicable to the State as one of the 36 States that constitute the Nigerian Federation;

2. Laws made by the Federal Legislature applicable throughout the entire federation or specifically to Nasarawa State;
3. Laws made (or deemed to have been made), by the State’s legislature;
4. Laws made by Local Government Councils in the State;
5. Customary laws or other customs of the market place applicable under the operation of Law;
6. Judicial precedents of the courts of the State and of appellate courts with jurisdictions over its tribunals like the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Nigeria;
7. Judicial precedents of federation tribunals like the Federal High Court, the National Industrial Court, Code of Conduct Tribunal, Investments and Securities Tribunal and so on to the extent to which their mandates allow;
8. Law enforcement institutions, law enforcement officers, judges, legal practitioners, judiciary workers, other professionals and persons recognized at various levels as part of the justice administration complex of the State.

Sources of Nasarawa State Legal System include:

1. The Constitution of Nigeria (including its amendments and other laws it refers to expressly as having the same character as provisions contained within the formal Constitutional document;
2. Laws of the Federation of Nigeria;
3. Legislations of the National Assembly applicable to Nasarawa State;
4. Legislations of the State House of Assembly;
5. Recognized customs of the people of Nasarawa State;
6. Judicial precedents of courts with judicial authority over Nasarawa State;
7. Local Government edicts.

NASARAWA STATE BY LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREAS