Federal Government has ordered the Nigerian Immigration Service to withdraw and deactivate passports of Nigerians who renounced their citizenship.
Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo who conveyed the instruction to Immigration, urged the service to promptly collect and deactivate the passports of individuals who have officially given up their Nigerian citizenship.
In a statement released on Saturday by his Media Adviser, Alao Babatunde, he noted the instruction applies to Nigerians whose requests to renounce citizenship have been formally accepted by the President.
Tunji-Ojo explained that the ministry, which is responsible for upholding the integrity of citizenship, bases this directive on Sections 29(1) and (2) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
The statement quoted the constitutional provision as stating: “(1)Any citizen of Nigeria of full age who wishes to renounce his Nigerian citizenship shall make a declaration in the prescribed manner for the renunciation.
“(2)The President shall cause the declaration made under subsection (1) of this section to be registered, and upon such registration, the person who made the declaration shall cease to be a citizen of Nigeria.”
The minister explained that, as per the statement, once someone is no longer a citizen of Nigeria, they lose the right to possess any official Nigerian document, like a passport.
Nigerian international passport issued by the Nigeria Immigration Service, as the Federal Government moves to withdraw passports from individuals who formally renounce Nigerian citizenship.
He also called this action a natural part of the ongoing passport and visa reforms the ministry has been working on over the past few years.
The minister added that the latest instruction was specifically designed to fix a problem that let people who had officially given up their citizenship to continue using Nigerian passports to travel.
“We will continue to strengthen systems that secure Nigeria’s borders, prevent identity fraud, preserve the sanctity of Nigerian citizenship, and facilitate legitimate travel while preventing unauthorised or ineligible access,” Tunji-Ojo said.
