“Within a week I received 5000 petitions against sharia from Amnesty International” - Yerima

Former governor of Zamfara state and member of the 8th Senate, Ahmad Sani Yerima, said that the lobby for the president to go for a second term has begun.

The controversial senator who introduced sharia legal system in his Zamfara when he was the governor spoke Daily Sun.

Speaking on the issue of fuel scarcity, rehabilitation of Nigerian refineries and turning things around based on the All Progressives Congress change mantra, Senator Yerima said: “That is the reason we say that anybody that expects or wants Buhari to be there in four years and leave is not thinking properly. The problems with Nigeria won’t take four years to solve. If we really want change from him, we should make up our mind that he being there for eight years would make that difference. I mean it. He needs eight years.”

In the interview granted in Abuja, Yerima spoke majorly on the introduction of sharia law and contestation surrounding his marriage to an alleged 13-year-old girl.

On why he promulgated the law, Yerima said: “I will say sincerely that I introduced sharia with the best intentions as a Muslim because the legal system is acceptable to Islam. The intention was not to Islamize those that are not Muslims in Nigeria. I did it because I knew my people needed it to check the wrongs of the society.

“Frankly, I never anticipated that the sharia introduction would attract such huge attention in Nigeria and internationally because it was just meant for the people of my state who are Muslims and wanted it.

“But I was so surprised at the international outrage and attack of the system. It got so bad that in one week, I received not less than 5000 protest petitions against the introduction of sharia from the Amnesty International. And that was just part of the larger attention that came with it. However, I did not stop the implementation because I was sure the move was right and we needed the sharia legal system to correct errors in our state.”

The senator noted that even after the anger and disagreements as at the time of the introduction of the law, about 12 states of the country now practise sharia.

He said that with the practice, there have not been any problems caused in the states and non-Muslims living in the states, adding that the law is strictly for Muslims and never for those that don’t belong to the religion.

On the Issue of the said underage girl the senator had married, he said: “That was another unnecessary issue, which I attributed to misunderstanding. The news went everywhere that I married a 13-year-old girl even when the girl’s age was not 13. I am a Muslim and I know the rules and requirements of marriage according to the religion.

“I saw a girl and approached her for marriage, which she accepted; I met the family and they agreed to the marriage and I did all that was required only for people to start a campaign that I married an underage girl. As a Muslim, my religion permits me to marry not more than four wives and I did not do any wrong in that.

“When the matter was brought to the Senate against me, the house looked at it and found that the Senate cannot make laws or take decisions on matters of Islamic laws or marriage or customary marriages. That is how the issue was rested. So, I still did not know where I went wrong to marriage the lady.”

Meanwhile, a foremost lawyer and elder statesman, Tunji Braithwaite, has faulted the anti-corruption war tactic used by President Buhari where alleged looters quietly returned their loots without being prosecuted.

Daily Sun