Tinubu: I don’t think Nigeria’s constitution disallows dual citizenship — Fashola
Tinubu: I don’t think Nigeria’s constitution disallows dual citizenship — Fashola
The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, has said he is not sure if Nigeria’s constitution allows dual citizenship.
The minister was reacting to photos of what appeared to be a Guinean passport with the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, as its holder being widely shared online over the weekend.
The allegations of Tinubu purportedly being a citizen of both Nigeria and Guinea generated uproar among Nigerians, especially those opposed to his emergence as the President-elect in the February 25 election.
“I know he resided abroad when he went on exile. I don’t know if they gave him American citizenship there. What does that have to do with the results of the election? The last time I checked, I think Nigeria’s constitution allows you to have dual citizenship?” Fashola, a former chief of staff to Tinubu, said during his live appearance on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics.
According to Section 137(1)(a) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, a person shall not be qualified for election to the office of President if -“subject to the provisions of section 28 of this Constitution, he has voluntarily acquired the citizenship of a country other than Nigeria or, except in such cases as may be prescribed by the National Assembly, he has made a declaration of allegiance to such other country”.
Section 28(1) of the constitution provides that “a person shall forfeit forthwith his Nigerian citizenship if, not being a citizen of Nigeria by birth, he acquires or retains the citizenship or nationality of a country, other than Nigeria, of which he is not a citizen by birth”.
The section adds, “Any registration of a person as a citizen of Nigeria or the grant of a certificate of naturalisation to a person who is a citizen of a country other than Nigeria at the time of such registration or grant shall, if he is not a citizen by birth of that other country, be conditional upon effective renunciation of the citizenship or nationality of that other country within a period of not more than five months from the date of such registration or grant.”
Meanwhile ,the camp of Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has reacted to reports of the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, having dual citizenship.
Atiku’s spokesman, Daniel Bwala, wondered why Tinubu would allegedly have dual citizenship and contest for the presidency.
The dual citizenship allegation is the latest in the controversies surrounding Tinubu.
Tinubu’s critics believe dual citizenship prevents him from the presidency based on Section 137 of the Constitution.
He is believed to have a Guinean passport.
Reacting to the controversy, Bwala tweeted: “If you are running for the office of the president, but you have acquired a passport of another country, meaning you have dual citizenship; and in your INEC form you ticked No for having another passport other than a Nigerian passport, what is the implication? Hmmm.
“Someone was trying to give an excuse for dual citizenship and said, “but the passport has expired.” Funny. Does the expiration of your passport take away your citizenship status?”
