The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has been told by the Federal Government to take back and deactivate the passports of people who have officially given up their Nigerian citizenship.
Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, the Minister of Interior, gave the order. He said that the order only applies to people whose renunciation had been officially approved by the President.
Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, the Minister of the Interior, has told the Nigeria Immigration Service to take back and deactivate the passports of Nigerians who have given up their citizenship but still have the documents.
“This order only applies to people whose requests to give up their citizenship have been officially approved by the President.
The Minister stressed that the Ministry of Interior, which is in charge of protecting the integrity of citizenship, gets its power from Section 29, subsections (1) and (2) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which say:
Any adult Nigerian citizen who wants to give up their citizenship must do so in the way that is required for the renunciation.
The President will make sure that the declaration made under subsection (1) of this section is registered. After that, the person who made the declaration will no longer be a citizen of Nigeria.
“He also said that once someone stops being a citizen of Nigeria, they are no longer allowed to have any official documents from the country, including the Nigerian passport.
The Minister also said that this order is in line with the Ministry’s ongoing changes to passports and visas that started a few years ago.
“We will keep making systems stronger that protect Nigeria’s borders, stop identity theft, protect the sanctity of Nigerian citizenship, and make it easier for people to travel legally while keeping out people who shouldn’t be there,” it said in the end.
