- Safiu Kehinde
The Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has ordered the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) to withdraw the passports of those who have renounced their Nigerian passports.
This was contained in a statement issued on Saturday by Alao Babatunde, the media aide to the Minister.
According to Babatunde, Tunji-Ojo directed the Nigeria Immigration Service to immediately withdraw and deactivate passports of Nigerians who have renounced their citizenship but still carry the documents.
This however applies to Nigerians whose requests for renunciation have formally been approved by the President.
Citing subsections 1 and 2 of Section 29 of the 1999 constitution, the minister maintained maintained that the Ministry of Interior, saddled with the responsibility of citizenship integrity.
The subsections, as quoted in the statement read; “(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”.
Meanwhile, Tunji-Ojo added that, once a person ceases to be a citizen of Nigeria, he can no longer carry any sovereign document of Nigeria, including the Nation’s passport.
The Minister noted that this move is consistent with the passport and visa reforms which the Ministry has undertaken within the past few years.
“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 unauthorized or ineligible access,” Tunji-Ojo noted.