THE NATIONAL PRAYER ALTAR
MARATHON PRAYERS
Monday 28th Sept. – Sunday 4th Oct. 2026
THE MERCHANTS OF JUSTICE
Her princes within her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves; they gnaw not the bones till the morrow. Her prophets are light and treacherous persons: her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law (Zeph. 3:3-4).
This week’s prayer call shall commence with a reference to five excerpts from a communique entitled “Abuja Declarations 1989”. That communique was produced at a conference of the Islam in Africa Organization (IAO), a subsidiary of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). The conference took place in Abuja in November 1989, and the communique detailed the plans of the Islamists to transform Africa into an Islamic continent, starting from their members nations. The five excerpts are as follows:
1. To ensure the appointment of only Muslims into strategic national and international posts of member nations;
2. To eradicate in all its forms and ramifications all non-Muslim religions in member nations (such religions shall include Christianity, Ahmadiyya and other tribal modes of worship unacceptable to Muslims).
3. To ensure that only Muslims are elected to all political posts of member nations.
4. To ensure the declaration of Nigeria (the 24th African and 48th World member of the OIC) a Federal Islamic Sultanate at a convenient date any time from 28th March, 1990, with the Sultan of Sokoto enthroned as the Sultan and Supreme Sovereign of Nigeria.
5. To ensure the ultimate replacement of all Western forms of legal and judicial systems with the Sharia in all member nations before the next Islam in African Conference.
A careful observation of Nigeria will reveal that “Abuja Declarations 1989” is the blueprint that is guiding the politics of the country. The advent of Islamist terrorism in the country has its roots in Item 2 above, while the Muslim-Muslim ticket can be linked to Item 3. Other levels of political positions are meant to follow in due course. Item 4 is their ultimate plan: turning Nigeria into an Islamic Sultanate. Item 4 should be read carefully, to understand the full import of what it is saying.
The focus of this prayer call is on Item 5. The Islamists have purposed a “replacement of all Western forms of legal and judicial systems with the Sharia …” Nigeria is classified as a country under the Common Law jurisdiction. The legal system in Nigeria has the Supreme Court, Appeal Court, High Court, Magistrate Court and the Customary Court. The plan of the Islamists is to scrap all these legal systems and institute only Sharia. They neither hide their plan nor mince their words. They clearly stated their goal. What is astonishing is that even the “learned fellows” in Nigeria appear to have overlooked it.
The response of legal practitioners is similar to that of Church leaders. When they were warned about Item 2 in the excerpts above, about the plan to “eradicate” Christianity in Nigeria, most Church leaders scoffed, and described the warning as "fear mongering." Today, none of them would dare say that speaking about terrorism and kidnapping is fear mongering.
Irrespective of anyone’s opinion about the Islamists, they have one feature to their credit: when they set a goal, they pursue it. They have determined to supplant the Common Law system in Nigeria with the Sharia, and they are assiduously working on it. They have changed the legal classification of Nigeria from a Common Law country to a Common Law and Sharia country. This was done without referendum, legislation, or national debate. Worldwide, legal systems are classified into four main jurisdictions:
1. Civil law – 88 nations
2. Common law – 38 nations
3. Civil law and Sharia – 14 nations
4. Common law and Sharia – 5 nations
Nigeria used to be a country exclusively under the Common Law jurisdiction. Without national awareness, Nigeria joined Bangladesh, Brunei, Gambia, Malaysia, and Pakistan in the new classification of Common Law and Sharia. The re-classification of Nigeria was neither discussed, nor was it backed by any legislation or referendum. This imposition found its way into the 1999 Constitution. Not too long ago, Nigeria had a Chief Justice of the Federation who was a Sharia-law lawyer/jurist. The position of Nigeria as a Common law and Sharia country was confirmed.
The most absurd aspect of this hostile takeover is that it is the lawyers and justices of the Common Law that are facilitating its establishment. Like those complicit Church leaders who facilitated the destruction of Church buildings and Christian lives due to financial inducement, justices and lawyers are also giving controversial judgments that strengthen the Islamists and their Sharia ideology while weakening Democracy and Common Law Jurisdiction.
At this point, it should be pointed out, as a reminder, that the problem of Nigeria is basically a contest between Democracy and Sharia ideologies. Nigeria was established as a democratic country based on the principle of secularity of the State. Section 10 of the constitution prohibits the adoption of any religion by the government. Along the way, the Islamists decided that they wanted an Islamic theocratic state which would not accommodate democracy. If democracy should be annihilated, there would no longer be freedom of choice, freedom of expression, and freedom of worship. The corruption, mediocrity in governance, dysfunctional infrastructure and institutions, and the pervasive insecurity in Nigeria are the consequences of this tussle for supremacy between these two ideologies. Sharia wants to become the source of legislation in Nigeria, over and above a democratic constitution. The attack on democracy is the problem of Nigeria. That is the underlying reason votes do not count during elections, because under Sharia, the people are not free to appoint their leaders.
The judiciary and the legal practitioners are complicit in nurturing and sustaining this conspiracy against democracy. Without the connivance of legal professionals, the Islamists could not have come this far. The complicity of the judiciary has been decried by many eminent Nigerians. This prayer call shall refer to some Nigerians who have made the same observations about the dangerous role that the judiciary is playing in the destruction of democracy in Nigeria. Ironically, some of the sponsors also raised alarm.
1. In February 2023, while swearing in five Rivers State High Court judges and two Customary Court of Appeal judges, as the governor of Rivers state, Wike said the judiciary, the security agencies and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should be held responsible if democracy failed in Nigeria. The governor expressed concerns about judges giving conflicting interpretations of the law. He stated: “if the judiciary wants the law to be interpreted the way it is, that it can do.”
2. At the opening ceremony of the 2025 All Nigerian Judges’ Conference of the Superior Courts in Abuja in November 2025, President Tinubu said that no judicial reform can succeed without integrity, warning that corruption within the judiciary posed a grave danger to Nigeria’s democracy. He stated, “Let us be clear, no amount of reform can succeed if integrity is compromised. Justice must never be for sale; the bench must never be called a sanctuary for compromise,”
3. Dr Charles Mekwunye, SAN, called for reforms in Nigeria’s judiciary and electoral adjudication system, warning that judicial compromise remains one of the greatest threats to the country’s democracy. He made the call in June at the 2026 Law Week of the Nigerian Bar Association, Agbor Branch, Delta State.
4. The Governor of Osun State, Ademola Adeleke, at a meeting in Ile-ife in June 2026, stressed that the survival of democracy in Nigeria depended largely on the delivery of equitable, fair and just administration of justice. He warned that public confidence in the judiciary must be protected at all costs.
5. Readers are encouraged to watch an interview of Prof. Chidi Odinkalu on YouTube while speaking on his book entitled THE SELECTORATE. The book was sub-titled, “When Judges Topple the People”. The book documents the compromise in the judiciary. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODmcjmqZPwg
These few examples are cited to underscore the complicity of the judiciary and the legal profession in undermining democracy in Nigeria. The irony is that the Islamists have purposed “To ensure the ultimate replacement of all Western forms of legal and judicial systems with the Sharia …" The legal practitioners whose profession has been marked for destruction are facilitating the triumph of the conspiracy of the Islamists. The “learned men and women” are giving oxygen to the monster that has purposed to consume them.
Certain judgments emanating from the courts have baffled even laymen. Between 1992 and 2026, there are over 55 “controversial” electoral cases determined by the judiciary in Nigeria. They are considered “controversial” not because they are all illegal, but that they generated significant legal, political, and public debate. Some of the judgments outrightly stood reason on its head, while some altered the outcome of decisions taken by the electorate at the polls. An undemocratic pattern is emerging in Nigeria: political leaders are no longer “elected” at the polls, but are appointed in the court. This is not good for democracy. The people should elect their leaders.
Another election is coming in 2027, and as Nigerians said in 2023, “All Eyes on the Judiciary”. The judiciary should reconsider the “Abuja Declarations 1989” and decide if merchandising justice should override the survival of the legal profession in Nigeria and the survival of democracy as the national ideology. It will not be wise for “learned men and women” to jeopardize their profession by joining Islamists to destroy democracy. If Sharia should become stronger than democracy, one of the first casualties would be the legal profession. Grand Khadis would replace their “lordships” in the courts. May God grant the “learned men and women” wisdom to refrain from merchandising justice in Nigeria. God bless Nigeria.
PRAYER POINTS
1. Zeph. 3:3-4
Raise lamentation to God in heaven about unjust judges in the country who pervert justice and judgment in Nigeria.
2. Mich. 3:9-12
Pray that God will execute His righteous judgment on all government officials who use their positions to engage in corruption and unrighteousness in Nigeria.
3. Is. 27:1
Take authority over the spirit of leviathan that is exercising influence upon the affairs of Nigeria.
4. Mich. 7:2-4
Beseech God to show Nigeria mercy and to raise righteous and God-fearing leaders for the country.
5. Ps. 74:12-14
Pray that God will manifest in Nigeria as Jehovah-Sabaoth, the Lord, the Man of War, and destroy all enemies of righteousness in Nigeria.
6. Is. 8:10
Pray for the 2027 elections, that every plan to compromise and corrupt it shall fail.
7. Is. 46:9-10
Pray that only the plans and purposes of God for Nigeria shall stand. AMEN
