Although the past two decades featured burgeoning research on issues affecting women’s
lives in Nigeria, the existing studies of women’s status and decision-making autonomy in the
country leave important gap in their representations of the high level of sociocultural heterogeneity
in the country. Using a nationally representative survey data, the 2013 Nigeria Demographic and
Health Survey (NDHS, n = 26,306), this study examines variations in women’s decision-making
autonomy across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory in Nigeria. A series of multilevel
linear regression models revealed that Nigerian women’s levels of participation in household
decision-making varied significantly across states of residence. Particularly, women residing in
states that practiced Sharia law reported significantly lower household decision-making autonomy
relative to their counterparts in non-Sharia states. The implications of these findings for future
research and stakeholders involved in women’s affairs in Nigeria are discussed.