David Hundeyin, a Nigerian journalist, made a post about Nigeria’s president-elect, Bola Tinubu, alleging that he has dual citizenship.
Hundeyin posted a picture, alleged to be Tinubu’s passport, which showed the All Progressives Congress (APC) flag-bearer to be of “Guinean nationality”.
The post, which immediately gained traction and went viral, has caused a series of debates both within and outside the social media space.
The controversy stems from Section 137 (1) (a) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (CFRN) which implies forfeiture of certain elective positions if the candidate involved has dual citizenship.
This fact shield answers the questions you may have about dual citizenships in Nigeria, and what is needed for the office of the president in Nigeria.
What does the Constitution say?
Chapter III of Sections 25 to 32 of the CFRN defines who a Nigerian citizen is and also provides the conditions that may qualify one to be a Nigerian citizen.
A person can become a Nigerian citizen by birth (to Nigerian parents or by birth in Nigeria), by registration/ marriage, and by naturalisation.
The bone of contention, however, is sections 137 (1a), 66 (1a), 107 (1a), and 182 (1a) which give restrictions on who can contest certain political offices.
“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,” the constitution states.
Based on the provisions of the constitution as stated above, no one with dual citizenship is constitutionally allowed to be president. The same applies to key offices in the national assembly.
Historical cases negate the constitution
Although no president-elect has had to battle the legality of dual citizenship in court, Nigerians with dual citizenships vying as lawmakers and governorship candidates have contested the position of the constitution.
It is important to note that they have all won their cases in the court of law. One of such case is Ogbeide v Osula in 2019.
Although the tribunal held in favour of Osula, of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Ogbeide would later appeal the case which would become precedence for future debates.
The Court of Appeal held that a citizen by birth does not lose his status even when he acquires another, and dual citizenship does not make a candidate ineligible when he is a citizen by birth.
Part of the ruling reads “ What one can make of that section read with sections 25,26 and 27 of the 1999 Constitution is that a citizen of this country by birth never loses his citizenship even where he holds dual citizenship of another country and cannot be disqualified from contesting election into the House of Representatives for reasons only that he holds such dual citizenship”.
The court further held, ”…as decided in the case of Ogbeide vs. Osula (supra), dual citizenship does not make a candidate ineligible to contest an election if he is a Nigerian citizen by birth. The complaint of the appellants is therefore unfounded.”
The ruling of the election tribunal vis-a-vis that of the Appeal Court was also similar to the case of Ikengboju Gboluga, a member of the House of Representatives, representing Okitipupa/Irele federal constituency.
He was sacked by the Ondo State Election Petitions Tribunal as a result of his dual citizenship. He was however reinstated by the Court of Appeal after the tribunal ousted the lawmaker.
In a more recent case, Tonye Cole the governorship candidate of the APC in Rivers state, was initially disqualified over alleged dual citizenship and non-compliance with the Electoral Act by his party.
The ruling by the Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt agreed with the APC decision that Cole, who has dual citizenship, was not eligible to contest the governorship position.
This ruling was however overturned by the court of appeal.
Politicians who hold dual citizenship
The Nigerian national assembly has constantly gone against the provision of the constitution by supporting the election of officers with dual citizens.
Ahmad Lawan, the senate president of the ninth assembly, in a form submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in 2019 admitted to being a dual citizen of an undisclosed country.
Femi Gbajabiamila the current speaker of the House of Representatives holds citizenship with the United States.
Bukola Saraki was a two-term governor in Kwara state despite being a British citizen and he went on to serve as senate president.
Tinubu guilty of pejury?
Nigerian courts have given distinct interpretations on cases involving dual citizens. There is also a record of people with dual citizenship holding public offices, even in the ongoing government. Thus, Tinubu’s alleged dual citizenship becomes dicey.
His opponents, however, believe he can be charged with perjury.
According to reports, Tinubu in his form EC-9 — application for the presidency — told INEC that he never obtained citizenship from another country.
Section 117 of the Criminal Code describes Perjury as giving “false testimony”. The punishment for this according to Section 118 is 14 years imprisonment or life imprisonment in certain cases.
To determine if the president-elect is guilty, a legal case has to be filed against him. This cannot be filed by LP and PDP under the recent electoral petitions as the 21-day window for adjustments of cases has elapsed.
Leave a Reply