KADUNA LEGAL SYSTEM AND PROFILE

Kaduna State, with capital in Kaduna, is the home of one of the well-established ancient cultures of Nigeria – the Nok Culture.

As a State in independent Nigeria, Kaduna State was first created in 1976, as a replacement for the defunct North Central State created on 27 May 1967.

The State is situated on the southern part of the High Plains of the northern parts of Nigeria. It lies between parallels 9^o03^’N, and 11^o32^’N, and extends from the upper River Mariga on 6^o05^’E to 8^o48^’E on the foot slopes of the scarp of Jos Plateau. The total land area of the State is 48,473.2km². To the South-west, the State shares a border with the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nassarawa State is to its south, Bauchi and Plateau States to the east, Niger to the west, while Zamfara, Katsina and Kano States take up its northern boundaries positioning it as a communication and economic hub.

The population of Kaduna State according to the National Population Commission is 6,113,503- Male: 3,090,438; Female: 3,023,065. About 80 percent of the people of Kaduna are engaged in various agricultural activities producing cash and food crops including yam, cotton, groundnut, tobacco, maize, beans, guinea corn millet, ginger, rice and cassava. Over 180,000 tonnes of groundnut are produced annually in Kaduna State. Animal husbandry is also widely practiced in the State.

It has an  executive headed by a Governor, a judicial arm led by the Chief Judge and a legislature, Kaduna State House of Assembly, made up of 34 members. The State is divided into 23 local government areas for easy administration.

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 23 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 Kaduna 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 Kaduna 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 Law for the Kaduna 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 Kaduna State;
4. Legislations of the State House of Assembly;
5. Recognized customs of the people of Kaduna State;
6. Judicial precedents of courts with judicial authority over Kaduna State;
7. Local Government edicts.

KADUNA STATE BY LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREAS

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