Thursday 25th September 2025
by inAfrika Newsroom
Nigeria’s top court has allowed a late appeal in the Kano blasphemy case of musician Yahaya Sharif-Aminu. The Supreme Court granted his lawyers permission to file outside the usual deadline and ordered an accelerated hearing. The defence says the 2020 sharia-court conviction was flawed and violated his fair-trial rights.
Sharif-Aminu was sentenced to death by a Kano State sharia court in 2020 over lyrics deemed blasphemous. His team argues he lacked legal representation during the trial and that notice on the judgment was too short to prepare an appeal. They will file the new appeal next week, counsel said.
Lawyers also challenged parts of Kano’s sharia code that permit capital punishment and amputation, saying they conflict with Nigeria’s constitution. Kano State’s counsel defended the original verdict and said the government would seek to uphold it. The Supreme Court did not rule on the merits. It only opened the door for a late filing.
The case has drawn national and international attention. It highlights the tension between religious law and constitutional protections. Rights groups say the appeal will test how Nigeria balances free expression and public order. The court’s timeline for arguments was not announced.
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