Criticisms Trail Ex-Governor's Marriage To A 13-year old

Criticisms continued to trail the alleged marriage of former governor of Zamfara State, Senator Ahmed Sani to a 13-year old Egyptian girl. The National Council of Women Societies condemned the action of the senator, describing it as shameful.

Speaking through its National President, Hajia Ramatu Usman, the umbrella women's organisation said Sani's action did not come to Nigerian women as a surprise because, according to them, many northern governors had been using religion as an excuse for not passing the Child Rights Act.

She further stated that the council had been mounting a campaign against young girls being given out for marriage at ridiculously early ages of 12 or 13 years, adding that the action was against all reasoning.

The former Zamfara governor Ahmed Sani has shamefully married a 13-year-old Egyptian girl as a fourth wife for which a reported $100,000 (about N15 million) was paid to the girl's family as bridal price.

The wedding took place at the Abuja National Mosque three weeks ago and was witnessed by the girl's family which was flown to Abuja for the ceremony.
It was learned that Sani divorced one of his four wives in order to be able to marry this one. He had been married and divorced many times in order to marry younger women. He is using his wealth to oppress the society and these innocent girls mostly with humble background.

According to Leadership, the wedding could only take place in Abuja and not Egypt because the authorities in the North African country could not sanction it. Their laws, we were informed, do not permit such unwholesome unions.

Even more alarming was the information that followed from other sources that Sani, the first governor to introduce Sharia law during Obasanjo's era and now a senator had to divorce another young girl who has borne one child for him and is about the same age as her Egyptian counterpart.
The divorce was necessary in order not to exceed the decreed number of four wives for Muslim men.

Another group, Women Empowerment and Legal Aid, has urged the Federal Government to arrest and prosecute a former Governor of Zamfara State and a serving Senator, Ahmed Sani, for child trafficking without further delay

WELA in a statement by its Chairperson, Mrs. Funmi Falana, said that the action was illegal and reminded Sani that marriage to under age girls violated all known laws, especially the Child's Rights Act which is an existing law in Nigeria.
It further decried Sani's bid to marry the Egyptian girl, saying that the senator ought to know that the act of child marriage was abhorred in all civilised societies.

The statement reads in part, “WELA denounces Senator Sani's violation of the right of this innocent girl who has been forced into a marriage that is inimical to her health and well-being and detrimental to her enjoyment of other rights and freedoms to which all human beings are entitled, especially children of her age. Under the Child's Rights Act, the girl should be in school receiving education to prepare for a rewarding future.

“Since the Government of Nigeria has ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Protocol on the Rights of the Child and domesticated the Protocols into the Child Rights Act 2003, we urge the Government to do more in ensuring that citizens of the country, no matter how highly placed, abide by all provisions of the convention.

“Having ratified and domesticated the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, the Federal Government is under a legal obligation by virtue of Article 18(3) thereof to ensure the elimination of every discrimination against women and also ensure the protection of the rights of the woman and the child as stipulated in international declarations and Conventions.”

The group also urged the Federal Government to regulate the marriage of under age girls and stop the abuse and exploitation that is very common in the country.