Citizenship in Nigeria is regulated by Chapter III of the 1999 Constitution. There is no implementing legislation, since the 1960 and 1961 Nigerian Citizenship Acts were repealed in 1974 when the original jus soli framework was amended; in 1979 a new constitution established the current framework.
The law does not discriminate against women in terms of their ability to pass their citizenship to their children, but does restrict their ability to pass nationality to their non-citizen spouses. The law fails to include a saving provision to ensure access to nationality for children of unknown parents or children born in Nigeria who would otherwise be stateless. In relation to those who became citizens at independence, the constitution requires that those born in Nigeria became Nigerian provided that one parent or grandparent belonged to “a community indigenous to Nigeria”, without defining what “indigenous” meant.
The question of belonging to an “indigenous community” also has importance in relation to broader rights of participation and the rights of Nigerian citizens within the different states of the federation. Rules relating to public appointments require respect for the “federal character” of Nigeria, with reference to the state of which a person is an “indigene”. Being labelled a non-indigene can lead to higher costs for education, inability to access state jobs and other forms of discrimination.
The decision of the International Court of Justice transferring sovereignty of the Bakassi peninsula from Nigeria to Cameroon has also left a large number of people at risk of statelessness, including former residents of the peninsula who have relocated to Nigeria.
Controversies have begun to trail the move by the National Assembly to amend the 1999 Constitution to grant citizenship to foreign investors who meet a certain investment threshold. The proposed legislation, sponsored by the Deputy Speaker of the House of […]
By Raymond Enoch The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has announced that Nigeria will officially roll out a new General Multipurpose Identity Card (GMPC) by October 2025, a move set to transform access to services, financial inclusion, and government programs […]
Illegal Printing, Issuance Of Plastic Card Persist Despite Govt Warning The National Identification Number (NIN) system was introduced in Nigeria to provide a reliable means of identifying all citizens and other legal residents. While over 100 million people have been […]
BY Prof Mike Ozekhome, SAN OFR, Ph.D Opinion INTRODUCTION In a candid interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria on Sunday, Senior British Conservative politician of Nigerian descent Kemi Badenoch, offered a striking and controversial insight into the limitations of Nigerian citizenship […]
The Director-General of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Abisoye Coker-Odusote, has declared the agency’s ambitious plan to register 95% of Nigerians into the National Identity Database before December 2025. Speaking during a briefing in Abuja, Coker-Odusote said the goal […]
By Gift ChapiOdekina, Abuja The House of Representatives on Thursday passed for second reading a bill seeking to return Nigeria to a parliamentary system of government. The bill is among 31 constitutional amendment bills that scaled second reading during plenary, […]
The Citizenship by Investment Bill passed its second reading on Wednesday, aiming to grant Nigerian citizenship to foreign investors who meet specified financial thresholds or invest in critical sectors of the economy. The House of Representatives has advanced a bill […]
Introduction No document is more critical to free movement of people across international borders, than that small booklet commonly called a ‘passport’. Without it, a person is without an identity – at least outside his or her country of origin. […]
By Gift Habib The African Diaspora Union has urged Nigeria to grant citizenship to African descendants in the diaspora who trace their ancestry back to Nigeria. The President of AFRIDU, Prof. Chidiebere Ogbu, made this appeal at a press conference […]
The National Assembly, as part of the moves to strengthen the regulatory function of the National Identity Management Commission, has embarked on repealing and enacting the NIMC Act No. 23. The NIMC Bill represents a significant legislative endeavour to enhance […]
By Margaret Ebeshi, Abuja The African Diaspora Union (AFRIDU), has appealed to the Nigerian government to consider the option of granting citizenship for African Descendants who were victims of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. Speaking at a press briefing in Abuja […]
Selected extracts relevant to Africa: Highlights The Republic of Congo officially joined the 1954 and 1961 Statelessness Conventions, fulfilling a commitment made at the 2019 High-Level Segment on Statelessness. Sao Tome and Principe’s President signed a decree for the country’s […]