Arewa leaders tackles US Congress over “Hostile Demand” to repeal sharia law

Northern political leaders erupted in unified outrage over the weekend, condemning what they describe as a “hostile and imperial overreach” by Republican lawmakers in the US Congress who are pressuring President Bola Tinubu to abolish Sharia law across twelve northern states. The reaction marks the most forceful regional pushback yet, as northern governors, emirs, legislators, and religious councils accuse Washington of “crossing a red line” and threatening the delicate balance that holds Nigeria’s multi religious federation together.

It was learnt that in an emergency virtual meeting of the Northern Governors’ Forum convened by its chairman, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, Governor of Gombe State, several of the 19 governors warned that the US congressional demand amounts to an attack on the cultural and religious autonomy of millions of Nigerian Muslims. A senior northern governor, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: “No foreign parliament has the authority to dictate the internal legal frameworks of our states. This is an assault on our identity and our constitutional rights.” Another governor was blunter: “If Washington believes it can dismantle Sharia with sanctions and threats, they are gravely mistaken. This will unite the North like nothing else.”

Speaking on background, northern traditional rulers and Islamic councils issued their own warnings, calling the congressional push “a direct provocation to millions of peaceful Muslims.” A prominent emir from the Northwest declared: “Sharia was adopted through democratic processes. Any attempt by a foreign power to force its repeal risks inflaming tensions and destabilizing the entire country.” A source close to Sheikh Dr. Bashir Aliyu Uma, President of the Supreme Council for Sharia in Nigeria, told Huhuonline.com that the US lawmakers were exploiting Nigeria’s security crisis to impose “religious and political domination.”

Northern leaders who elected anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the issue, emphasized that Sharia law, adopted between 1999 and 2000 in Zamfara, Kano, Sokoto, Katsina, Bauchi, Borno, Jigawa, Kebbi, Kaduna, Niger, Gombe, and Yobe, operates within Nigeria’s constitutional framework and applies primarily to Muslims. One prominent Muslim Senator argued that the US demand ignores Nigeria’s federal structure, the democratic processes that established Sharia, and the coexistence of customary, civil, and religious courts across the country. The northern senator said: “If the US Congress wants to understand Nigeria, they should start by respecting our constitution.”

Another Senator told Huhuonline.com that Northern leaders were especially angered by Republican proposals to sanction MACBAN, Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, Fulani militias, and former Kano governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso. The senator said that the US is criminalizing entire ethnic and religious communities based on incomplete or politicized narratives. The northern lawmaker warned: “Targeting Fulani groups and a former governor is not just interference; it is destabilization. This could inflame ethnic tensions across the region.”

Media reports that they has been behind closed doors, several northern leaders are discussing countermeasures, including a joint resolution condemning US congressional interference; diplomatic pressure on the Tinubu administration to reject all foreign conditions; strengthening ties with alternative security partners, including Turkey, Pakistan, and Gulf states; as well as a coordinated northern political front to resist any federal attempt to alter Sharia structures. One source quoted the influential National Missioner of Ansar-Ud-Deen Islamic Society, Dr. Abdul Rahman Ahmad as saying: “If Abuja bows to Washington, the North will see it as a betrayal. The political consequences will be seismic.”

Northern leaders warn that US pressure could deepen mistrust between northern and southern political blocs, fuel extremist propaganda claiming Islam is under attack, trigger mass protests across northern cities, and strain the already fragile national cohesion. A former PDP northern governor summarized the mood: “Nigeria is a secular state, yes; but it is also a federation. If the US forces a constitutional crisis, the unity of this country will be tested in ways we have not seen since 1966.”

Meanwhile, President Tinubu now faces a political minefield with very limited options: defy US pressure and risk sanctions; concede to US demands and risk northern political revolt, or attempt a middle path that satisfies neither side. Northern leaders are already warning him privately that any hint of capitulation will trigger a political backlash that could reshape the 2027 electoral landscape. As Washington debates sanctions and Abuja weighs its response, northern leaders insist they will not allow foreign powers to dictate their legal systems. The message from the North is unmistakable: “Sharia is not negotiable, and Nigeria’s sovereignty is not for sale.” This confrontation is rapidly becoming the most explosive diplomatic crisis between Nigeria and the United States in decades, and its outcome may redefine the future of the federation.