According to Punch Newspapers on Thursday, December 04, 2025, the Presidential Adviser on Policy Communication, Daniel Bwala, has dismissed calls from some United States lawmakers urging Nigeria to abolish Sharia law, stressing that America lacks both the legal standing and moral authority to instruct a sovereign nation on constitutional matters.
Speaking during an interview on Arise Television on Thursday, Bwala insisted that any external attempt to direct Nigeria on how to structure its constitution amounts to an assault on the country’s independence.
“They don’t have the locus,” he stated when asked whether the US had the right to pressure Nigeria into ending Sharia law or amending its constitution. According to him, such interference “will amount to infringing on the territorial integrity and territorial right of a country.”
Bwala also faulted recent remarks made by former US President Donald Trump regarding a potential military intervention in Nigeria. He argued that the comments run contrary to both international norms and American conventions.
He said, “Even the threat of possible military invasion is not consistent with the US convention, because there are only three conditions upon which another country can invade militarily. Either you invited by that country, or you are at war with that country, or the United Nations asks you to be in that country.”
He clarified that Sharia law, which is applied in 12 northern states, is not a federal statute but a sub-national legal framework enabled by Nigeria’s federal system. “Sharia law is not a national law. We also practice federal system of government, although their own is more advanced,” he added.
The debate followed a congressional briefing in the US where experts urged lawmakers to pressure Nigeria to disband Sharia structures and the Hisbah police. They argued that extremist groups exploit these systems to target Christian communities.
But Bwala maintained that no foreign government can dictate constitutional reforms to Nigeria.
“We differ with them on this idea of amending our constitution. Nigeria is a sovereign state, has never been colonized by America anywhere and we are not Venezuela,” he said. View, More,
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