Nothing wrong marrying 13-year-old, says APC presidential aspirant Yerima
Former Zamfara governor and presidential aspirant under the All Progressives Congress (APC), Sani Yerima, says he did nothing wrong marrying a 13-year old girl.
Mr Yerima justified marrying a 13-year-old Egyptian girl when he appeared on Channels TV on Tuesday
The 2009 marriage generated much criticisms among child rights activists at the time but Mr Yerima insists he did not contravene any Nigerian law.
“If I had done anything wrong, I would have been tried in court. NAPTIP wanted to try the case and they dropped the matter because I didn’t do anything wrong,” Mr Yerima said.
He added that “there is no law in Nigeria that determines when and how you get married. Muslims have Sharia, the Christians I don’t know what their doctrines say.”
A two term governor of Zamfara State between 1999-2007, Mr Yerima, was the first governor to introduce Sharia Law later enforced in 12 northern states of Nigeria.
Critics argue that introduction of Sharia Law might have reinforced the bedrock of Islamic fundamentalism in the country.
We have recently deactivated our website's comment provider in favour of other channels of distribution and commentary. We encourage you to join the conversation on our stories via our Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages.
More from Peoples Gazette
States
Independence: NBA urges Nigerians to expect better future
The NBA said that ordinary Nigerians should be deriving benefit from the subsidy removal rather than hardship.
Agriculture
FG tasks ECOWAS on leveraging financing strategies for agroecology
The federal government has urged stakeholders in the agriculture and finance sectors in the West Africa region to leverage financing strategies to enhance agroecology practices
Politics
Katsina youths pledge to deliver over 2 million votes to Atiku
“Katsina State is Atiku’s political base because it is his second home.”
Economy
Senegal opens 104 blocks to investors target new upstream contacts
Senegal has made 104 oil and gas blocks available to investors and is seeking new upstream contracts to boost exploration and production.
Showbiz
Artistes celebrate Fela’s posthumous birthday at Felabration
During his lifetime, Fela was imprisoned several times, largely due to his confrontations with the Nigerian authorities.
Economy
FG plans N85 million mortgage limit, 40% allocation for informal workers
The federal government is proposing to increase the maximum mortgage loan from N50 million to N85 million to improve access to homeownership.
Rights
Nigeria seeks inclusion of colonialism, exploitation in UN crimes against humanity treaty
Nigeria has urged UN to include colonialism, slavery, slave trading and exploitation of natural resources in a proposed international treaty on crimes against humanity.
Economy
World Bank mobilises $112 billion private capital to boost job creation
The World Bank Group says it mobilised $112 billion in private capital in the last financial year, a threefold increase from about $35 billion in the 2022 financial year.
Africa
UN, Kenya call for equal partnership for Africa from global institutions
Officials from the United Nations and the Kenyan government called for a greater role for Africa in global decision-making.
