EDO STATE LEGAL SYSTEM AND PROFILE

Edo State

Edo State, with capital at Benin city, is one of the two states that was created out of the defunct Bendel State on 27 August 1991 under the General Ibrahim Babangida led military dictatorship. The other State is Delta State.

The State lies roughly between longitude 6^o04^lE and latitude 5^o44^lN and 7^o34^lN of the equator. Its landmass of about 17,802km² is bounded on the south by Delta State, on the west by Ondo State, to the  by Kogi State while the eastern end is taken up by the boundaries of Kogi and Anambra States.

The population of the Edo State according to the National Population Commission is 3,233,366- Male (1,633,946; Female: 1,599,420). Agriculture is the predominant occupation of the people. Major cash crops produced in the State include rubber, cocoa, palm produce. In addition, the State produces crops such as yams, cassava, rice, plantain, guinea-corn and assorted fruits and vegetables.

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:

3. an Executive arm of government headed by an elected Governor;
4. of a legislative arm of government which members shall be drawn from constituencies defined in the Constitution. Its activities is 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;
5. 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;
6. maintain the Local Government level of governance. Presently, the Nigerian Constitution prescribes18 local Local Government Areas for the State; and
7. 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 Edo 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 Edo 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 Edo 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 Edo State;
4. Legislations of the State House of Assembly;
5. Recognized customs of the people of Edo State;
6. Judicial precedents of courts with judicial authority over Edo State;
7. Local Government edicts.

EDO STATE BY LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREAS

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