DUAL CITIZENSHIP

Dual Citizenship simply means Double Citizenship. It is where an individual holds more than one Citizenship. For instance, one can legally be a Citizen in Nigeria and in Canada.

Dual Citizenship is recognized and provided for in Section 28 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The provision of Dual Citizenship in Nigeria is quite strict as individuals who have either been naturalised or registered as a citizen in another country cannot be naturalised or registered as a citizen in Nigeria. They would be required to renounce such other citizenship which was not acquired by birth in order to be naturalised or registered in Nigeria.

In Nigeria, where a person seeks to acquire a dual citizenship in Nigeria, if such a person is not a citizen of Nigeria by birth, he/she shall be required to forfeit his other acquired citizenship if the other acquired citizenship is not one by birth.

Furthermore, any registration of a person as a citizen of Nigeria or the grant of a certificate of naturalization to a person who is a citizen of another country other than Nigeria at the time of such registration or grant shall be conditional and will become unconditional upon effective renunciation of the citizenship of that other country if he is not a citizen by birth of that other country, and this renunciation ought to be done within a period of not more than five months from the date such registration or grant was given.

This provision acts as an exception to Citizenship by Registration and where one seeks to be a dual citizen by registration and naturalisation, one must take cognisance of this provision.

Thank you for engaging us today! We’re sure you learnt and would share what you’ve learnt!

Until next time, continue to enforce your right!

Author and Editor: Esther Chioma Ude