OYO STATE LEGAL SYSTEM AND PROFILE

Oyo State, with Ibadan as capital, was created alongside Ogun and Ondo States on 3 February, 1976 out of the old Western State by the military dictatorship of General Murtala Mohammed. In 1991, Osun State was created out of a part of it.

Located in the south western parts of Nigeria and covering a total land area of 28,454km². Oyo State’s northern border is taken up by Kwara State, Ogun State is to its south, Osun State to the east and to is an international border with the Republic of Benin.

The population of Oyo State according to the National Population Commission is 5,580,894- Male: 2,802,432; Female: 2,778,462. Agriculture remains the dominant economic activity in the State employing a large number of its population. Cocoa, kolanut, cashew nuts, citrus fruits, palms and rubber are the main tree crops cultivated in the forest zones in the southern parts of the State, yam and cassava represent the major root crops, while maize is the predominant cereal cultivated in the savannah areas of the State. Lumbering is also a source of income for the State government. Major trees found in the State include Mahogany, Obeche, Opepe, Iroko and Afara. Cattle rearing is also practiced to a relatively large degree.

Oyo State is recognized for its many landmarks. These include the first university in Nigeria— the University of Ibadan (1948) which was initially founded as a college of the University of London becoming autonomous in 1962; the first teaching hospital in Nigeria, University College Hospital; the internationally recognized International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (lITA); the first skyscraper in Africa named the Cocoa House in honour of the dominant cash crop of the entire Western Region that Ibadan once played capital to; the first television station in Africa, NTA , Ibadan and the Liberty Stadium, the first stadium in Africa.

Other major attractions located in the state include the Agodi Botanical Garden; Ado-Awaye Suspended lake; Mapo Hall; University of lbadan Zoological Garden; Ido Cenotaph; Trans-Wonderland Amusement Park; Oke-Ogun National Park in Old Oyo-Ile; Iyamopo and Agbele Hill in Igbeti; Bowers Tower and the Cultural Centre, Mokola.

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 33 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 Oyo 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 Oyo 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 economic space applicable under the operations of the Laws;
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 of the Oyo 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 Oyo State;
4. Legislations of the State House of Assembly;
5. Recognized customs of the people of Oyo State;
6. Judicial precedents of courts with judicial authority over Oyo State;
7. Local Government edicts.

OYO STATE BY LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREAS

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