OGUN STATE LEGAL SYSTEM AND PROFILE

Ogun State

Ogun State was created on 3 February, 1976 by the military regime of General Murtala Mohammed as one of the new 19 state structure. Ogun State is otherwise known as “the Gateway State” in recognition of its pioneering role in education, medicine, law and divinity on the hand, and its strategic position as the link by road, rail, air and sea to the rest of the country. The capital of the State is Abeokuta.

Ogun State is located in the south western region of Nigeria. It lies between latitude 6.2^oN and 7.8^oN and longitude 3^oE and 5^oE. It covers a total land area of 16,409.26km². The State shares its border with Lagos State and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, Ondo State to the east, and on the north are Oyo and Osun States. It also shares an international border with Republic of Benin.

The population of Ogun State according a recent estimate from the National Population Commission is 3,751,140- Male: 1,864,907; Female: 1,886,233. Agriculture is the mainstay of the State’s economy and employs a large percent of the population in the State. Crops produced in the State include cocoa, kolanut, palm produce, yam, cassava and sugar cane. Lumbering is also commercially practiced in the State.

The Ogun State government is made up of the executive led by the governor currently Ibikunle Amosun of Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, and his cabinet, the State House of Assembly comprising of 26 members led by their speaker, Surajudeen Adekunbi and the judiciary. Ogun State is divided into 20 local government areas.

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 20 local Local Government Areas for the State;
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 Ogun 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 Niger 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 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; and
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 Ogun 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 Ogun State;
4. Legislations of the State House of Assembly;
5. Recognized customs of the people of Ogun State;
6. Judicial precedents of courts with judicial authority over Ogun State;
7. Local Government edicts.

OGUN STATE BY LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREAS

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