| CITIZENSHIP
25.
(1) The following persons are
citizens of Nigeria by birth-namely-
(a) every person born in
Nigeria before the date of independence, either of
whose parents or any of whose
grandparents belongs or belonged to a
community indigenous to Nigeria;
Provided that a person shall not
become a citizen of Nigeria by virtue of
this section if neither of his
parents nor any of his grandparents was born
in Nigeria.
(b) every person born in
Nigeria after the date of independence either of
whose parents or any of whose
grandparents is a citizen of Nigeria; and
(c) every person born outside
Nigeria either of whose parents is a
citizen of Nigeria.
(2) In this section, "the date of
independence" means the 1st day of October 1960.
26.
(1) Subject to the provisions of
section 28 of this Constitution, a person to whom the
provisions of this section apply may be
registered as a citizen of Nigeria, if the
President is satisfied that -
(a) he is a person of good
charcater;
(b) he has shown a clear
intention of his desire to be domiciled in
Nigeria; and
(c) he has taken the Oath of
Allegiance presicribed in the Seventh
Schedule to this Constitution.
(2) the provisions of this section
shall apply to-
(a) any woman who is or has
been married to a citizen of Nigeria; or
(b) every person of full age
and capacity born outside Nigeria any of
whose grandparenters is a citizen
of Nigeria.
27.
(1) Subject to the provisions of
section 28 of this Constitution, any person who is
qualified in accordance with the
provisions of this section may apply to the President for
the same of a certificate of
naturalisation.
(2) No person shall be qualified
to apply for the grant of a certificate or naturalisation, unless he
satisfies the President that -
(a) he is a person of full
age and capacity;
(b) he is a person of good
character;
(c) he has shown a clear
intention of his desire to be domiciled in
Nigeria;
(d) he is, in the opinion of
the Governor of the State where he is or he
proposes to be resident, acceptable
to the local community in which he is
to live parmanently, and has been
assimilated into the way of life of
Nigerians in that part of the
Federation;
(e) he is a person who has
made or is capable of making useful
contribution to the advancement;
progress and well-being of Nigeria;
Senventh schedule.
(f) he has taken the Oath of
Allegiance prescribed in the Seventh
Schedule to this Constitution; and
(g) he has, immediately
preceding the date of his application, either-
(i) resided in Nigeria
for a continuous period of fifteen
years; or
(ii) resided in Nigeria
continuously for a period of twelve
months, and during the period
of twenty years immediately
preceding that period of
twelve months has resided in
Nigeria for periods amounting
in the aggregate to not less
than fifteen years.
28.
(1) Subject to the other
provisions of this section, a person shall forteit forthwith his
Nigerian citizenhsip if, not being a
citizen of Nigeria by birth, he acquires or retains the
citizenship or nationality of a country,
other than Nigeria, of which he is not a citizen by
birth.
(2) Any registration of a person
as a citizen of Nigeria or the grant of a certificate of
naturalisation to a persn who is a
citizen of a country other than Nigeria at the time of
such registration or grant shall, if he
is not a citizen by birth of that other country, be
conditional upon effectiv e renunciation
of the citizenship or nationality of that other
country within a period of not more than
five months from the date of such registration or
grant.
29.
(1) 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.
(2) The President shall cause the
declaration made under subsection (1) of this
section to be registered and upon such
registration, the person who made the
declaration shall cease to be a citizen
of Nigeria.
(3) The President may withhold the
registration of any declaration made under
subsection (1) of this section if-
(a) the declaration is made
during any war in which Nigeria is physically
involved; or
(b) in his opinion, it is
otherwise contrary to public policy.
(4) For the purposes of subsection
(1) of this section.
(a) "full age" means the age
of eighteen years and above;
(b) any woman who is married
shall be deemed to be of full age.
30.
(1) The President may deprive a
person, other than a person who is a citizen of
Nigeria by birth or by registration, of
his citizenship, if he is satisfied that such a person
has, within a period of seven years
after becoming naturalised, been sentenced to
imprisonment for a term of not less than
three years.
(2) The President shall deprive a
person, other than a person who is citizen of Nigeria
by birth, of his citizenship, if he is
satisfied from the records of procedings of a court of
law or other tribunal or after due
inquiry in accordance with regulations made by him,
that -
(a) the person has shown
himself by act or speech to be disloyal
towards the Federal Republic of
Nigeria; or
(b) the person has, during
any war in which Nigeria was engaged,
unlawfully traded with the enemy or
been engaged in or associated with
any business that was in the
opinion of the president carried on in such a
manner as to assist the enemy of
Nigeria in that war, or unlawfully
communicated with such enemy to the
detriment of or with intent to cause
damage to the interest of Nigeria.
31. For the purposes of this
Chapter, a parent or grandparent of a person shall be
deemed to be a citizen of Nigeria if at
the time of the birth of that person such parent or
grandparent would have possessed that
status by birth if he had been alive on the date
of independence; and in this section,
"the date of independence" has the meaning
assigned to it in section 25 (2) of this
Constitution.
32.
(1) The president may make
regulations, not inconsistent with this Chapter,
prescribing all matters which are
required or permitted to be prescribed or which are
necessary or convenient to be prescribed
for carrying out or giving effect to the
provisions of this Chapter, and for
granting special immigrant status with full residential
rights to non-Nigerian spouses of
citizens of Nigeria who do not wish to acquire Nigerian
citizenship.
(2) Any regulations made by the
president pursuant to the provisions of this section
shall be laid before the National
Assembly.
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