OSUN STATE LEGAL SYSTEM AND PROFILE

Osun State with capital at Osgogbo was created on 27 August, 1991 out of the old Oyo State by the military dictatorship of General Ibrahim Babangida.

Geographically, Osun State is situated in the south-western corner of Nigeria. Its land area of 9,241km² is bounded on the north by Kwara State, to the south by Ogun State, east by Ekiti and Ondo States and on the west by Oyo State.

The population of Osun State according to a recent estimate from the National Population Commission is 3,416,959- Male: 1,734,149; Female: 1,682,810. Agriculture remains the mainstay of the State’s economy employing a large number of its population. Food crops produced in the State include yam, maize, beans, rice, and cassava. Osun State has considerable hectarage of citrus fruits, especially oranges. Cocoa is the main export crop grown in the State. In fact, Osun State is second only to Ondo in terms of cocoa production in Nigeria

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 30 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 Osun State legal system comprises;

2. The compendium of Constitution provisions applicable to the State as one of the 36 States that constitute the Nigerian Federation;
3. Laws made by the Federal Legislature applicable throughout the entire federation or specifically to Osun State;
4. Laws made (or deemed to have been made), by the State’s legislature;
5. Laws made by Local Government Councils in the State;
6. Customary laws or other customs of the market place applicable under the operation of Law;
7. 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;
8. 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; and
9. 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 Osun 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 Osun State;
4. Legislations of the State House of Assembly;
5. Recognized customs of the people of Osun State;
6. Judicial precedents of courts with judicial authority over Osun State;
7. Local Government edicts.

OSUN STATE BY LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREAS

LEGAL SYSTEMS OF THE FEDERATING UNITS OF NIGERIA – 37 STATES/FCT