Au Nigéria, la nationalité est régie par le chapitre III de la Constitution de 1999. Aucune législation n’a été mise en œuvre depuis l’abrogation en 1974 des codes de la nationalité de 1960 et 1961.
La loi ne fait pas de discrimination à l’égard des femmes concernant leur capacité à transmettre leur nationalité à leurs enfants, mais limite leur capacité à transmettre leur nationalité à leur non conjoints étrangers. La loi ne contient pas de clause de sauvegarde pour garantir l’accès à la nationalité pour les enfants de parents inconnus nés au Nigéria ou les enfants nés au Nigéria qui, autrement, seraient apatrides. En ce qui concerne ceux qui sont devenus des ressortissants à l’indépendance, la Constitution dispose que ceux qui sont nés au Nigéria acquièrent la nationalité à condition que l’un des parents ou grands-parents appartiennent à « une communauté autochtone au Nigéria », sans donner une définition au mot «autochtone».
La question de l’appartenance à une «communauté autochtone» a également une importance pour des droits plus larges de participation et les droits des Nigérians dans les différents Etats de la fédération. Les règles concernant les nominations à des fonctions publiques imposent le respect du « caractère fédéral » du Nigéria, en référence à l’Etat dont une personne est « autochtone » (indigenous). Être étiqueté un non-autochtone peut entraîner des coûts plus élevés pour l’éducation, l’incapacité d’accéder à des emplois au sein de la fonction publique et d’autres formes de discrimination.
La décision de la Cour internationale de Justice de transférer la souveraineté de la péninsule de Bakassi du Nigéria au Cameroun a laissé un grand nombre de personnes en situation de risque d’apatridie, y compris les anciens résidents de la péninsule qui se sont réimplantés au Nigéria.
by Tunde Oguntola National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCRFMI) and other stakeholders have commenced the review of the draft Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for Statelessness Status Determination (SSD). The federal commissioner of NCFRMI, Hajiya Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, […]
The Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to joining the global effort to eliminate statelessness. The minister gave the affirmation when he featured at the News Agency of Nigeria Forum in Abuja on Sunday. […]
Introduction Statelessness is a global phenomenon whereby a person is not recognised as a national of any State under the operation of its laws. The 1954 UN Convention relating to the status of Stateless persons and the 1961 UN Convention […]
By Ayang Macdonald Nigeria officials say they have so far been able to register the biometrics of almost 90 million citizens for National Identification Numbers despite many bottlenecks. The success means that a capacity crunch could be ahead, however. Speaking […]
The Federal Government has announced the conferment of citizenship by naturalisation and registration to 286 foreign nationals from 49 countries. In an advertorial signed by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Interior, Dr Shuaib Belgore, and made available to Sunday PUNCH […]
by Christiana Nwaogu Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has flayed the Nigerian Constitution over its discriminatory stance against women on matters of citizenship, saying the federal government was moving to address and put an end to statelessness. Speaking yesterday […]
By Tina Abeku, Abuja The Federal Government yesterday launched a National Action Plan, (NAP), to eradicate statelessness in Nigeria in line with the international treaties and conventions on the status of stateless persons towards upholding basic human rights, ending vulnerability […]
The Federal Government has restated its determination to eradicate statelessness by 2024. This position was stated by the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, Friday, during the launching and inauguration of high power steering committee on National Action Plan on […]
« Study finds that exclusive breastfeeding rate increased from 24 per cent to 34 per cent, while nearly 60 per cent of Nigerian children are now registered at birth with civil authorities » [Press statement] Today, the Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, officially […]
Research and Writing by Shruti Trikanad and Vrinda Bhandari In the recent past, political justifications for national biometric identity systems has shifted from security and terrorism to the promotion of human development and social and economic inclusion, particularly for the […]
By Mayowa Tijani This journey began in January 2017, at a time when the Nigerian military said it had “accidentally” bombed a civilian camp in Rann, the capital of Kala Balge LGA in north-east Nigeria. I travelled to the region […]
Bukky Shonibare March 1, 2022 was a sad day for Nigerian women. Despite extensive lobbying, consultations, negotiations, and advocacy, the 9th National Assembly (NASS) joined previous ones to legitimise the discrimination of women in Nigeria. It is particularly worrisome that […]