Nigeria: Acquiring citizenship for foreigners difficult, says Aregbesola
Published: 8/Feb/2023
Source: Punch (Abuja)
By Solomon Odeniyi
The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, has lamented the cumbersome process foreigners are subjected to while applying to be citizens of the country.
The PUNCH reports that chapter III of the Nigerian 1999 constitution stated that an individual may become a citizen of Nigeria by birth, registration, or naturalisation.
The constitution further stated that a person applying for the certificate of naturalisation must have resided in Nigeria for, at least, the 15 years preceding the date of his application or preceding his application, he has lived in Nigeria for 12 months, and a period amounting in aggregate to at least 15 years within the 20 years immediately preceding those 12 months.
However, the Minister bemoaned the 15-year residency constitutional requirement as too long, describing it as a disincentive for foreigners who would have loved to become Nigerians and add to national development.
Aregbesola said this explained why after many years the country had been able to grant 286 foreigners citizenship.
He spoke at the first meeting of the 2023 Advisory Committee on Nigerian Citizenship in Abuja.
Read further: https://punchng.com/acquiring-citizenship-for-foreigners-difficult-says-aregbesola/