YOBE STATE LEGAL SYSTEM AND PROFILE

Yobe State, with Damaturu as capital, was created from the old Borno State on 27 August, 1991 by the military dictatorship of General Ibrahim Babangida.

The State is located at the north eastern region of the country. It occupies a total land area of 45,502km²bordered on the east by Borno State, Gombe State to the south, Bauchi and Jigawa States to the east and an international boundary with the Republic of Niger to the north.

The population of the State according to an estimate from the National Population Commission is 2,321,339- Male: 1,205,034; Female: 1,116,305. Agriculture is the main economic activity in Yobe due to its vast arable land. Agricultural produce from the State include rice, millet, sorghum, groundnut, maize, beans and wheat.

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 prescribes17 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 Yobe State legal system comprises;

1. The compendium of Constitutional provisions applicable to the State as one of the 36 States that make up the Nigerian Federation;
2. Laws made by the Federal Legislature applicable throughout the entire federation or specifically to Yobe 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; 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 Yobe State Laws 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 Yobe State;
4. Legislations of the State House of Assembly;
5. Recognized customs of the people of Yobe State;
6. Judicial precedents of courts with judicial authority over Yobe State;
7. Local Government edicts.

YOBE STATE BY LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREAS

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