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From Isaac Anumihe, Abuja
Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has directed the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) to immediately withdraw and deactivate passports of Nigerians who have renounced their citizenship but still carrying the documents.
In a statement, Special Adviser on Media to the minister, Babatunde Alao, said that the directive applies to Nigerians whose requests for renunciation have formally been approved by the President. The minister maintained that the Ministry of Interior, saddled with the responsibility of citizenship integrity, derives the power from the provisions of subsections (1) (2) of Section 29 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which states that 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.Also, the president shall cause the declaration made under subsection (1) of the section to be registered and upon such registration, the person who made the declaration shall cease to be a citizen of Nigeria” he said 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 the move is consistent with the passport and visa reforms which the ministry has undertaken within the past few years.
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“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 unauthorised or ineligible access,” the minister noted.
Meanwhile the minister acknowledged challenges faced by new passport applicants, assuring the public of an enhanced process in the coming weeks. The new conditions, including the provision of a citizenship certificate, date of birth certificate and the National Identification Number (NIN), have become critical in verifying applicant’s true citizenship.
On the motive behind the introduction of the new process, Tunji-Ojo emphasised that the reform is aimed at simplifying the passport acquisition process for Nigerians through facilitating speedy online application, production, and passport collection.
“We have to introduce this new system in order to stop those non-Nigerians from carrying Nigerian passports. Contrary to reports, the new process is working very effectively and hiccups recorded is only four per cent, which is a significant improvement for a system that is newly introduced and I assure you that in the next one or two weeks we will have near perfect system. “We have to improve our process of obtaining passports because passport is a security document. This new system has improved accessibility, transparency and efficiency,” the minister stated.
