A cultural group, Ndi Igbo Worldwide Union, has urged the Federal Government and the National Assembly to remove Sharia criminal law from the Constitution of Nigeria to ensure peaceful coexistence.

The Ndi Igbo Worldwide Union, in a communique at the end of its meeting, by the President, Benjamin I. Nwankwo; and Secretary, Chief Charles Edemuzo; cautioned that current tension over Sharia criminal law, is pushing the country towards an existential national test.

In the communique, the Union warned that Nigeria had reached a critical turning point, stressing that the time for ambiguity is over.

According to the Union, recent opposition by Islamic authorities to calls for the repeal of Sharia criminal law has exposed deeper constitutional and political contradictions within the Nigerian state.

The Union argued that the controversy highlighted structural realities embedded in Nigeria’s legal framework, noting that Nigeria enshrines Sharia in its Constitution and, as a ranking member of the Organization of Islamic Countries, OIC, cannot simply erase it overnight.

The Union declared that attempts to impose a unified legal order without constitutional restructuring would fail, stating that any proposal to impose a uniform common law system without first dismantling the 1999 constitution is a non-starter.

It maintained that the coexistence of dual legal systems undermines national unity, declaring that “two legal codes cannot coexist in a serious, modern nation.”

It further stated that Nigeria cannot continue to pretend that a ‘common law’ society can function alongside a full-blown religious legal system.