The Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has ordered the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) to immediately withdraw and deactivate passports held by individuals who have renounced Nigerian citizenship. The directive targets those who have formally given up their nationality but continue to possess Nigerian passports. According to a statement by Babatunde Alao, Special Adviser on Media to the minister, the move is aimed at safeguarding national security and ensuring that only eligible citizens retain access to national identity documents. The NIS is now required to verify citizenship status and deactivate any passport issued to persons no longer recognized as Nigerian citizens. The directive underscores ongoing efforts to tighten border control and document issuance. No deadline was given for the completion of the exercise, but compliance is expected to be immediate. The ministry did not disclose how many individuals are affected or provide specific criteria for identifying affected passports.
Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo's directive to strip passports from former citizens exposes a long-ignored loophole in Nigeria's citizenship management. The fact that individuals who have legally renounced Nigerian nationality still hold valid passports reveals a critical gap in inter-agency data sharing, particularly between the Ministry of Interior and agencies handling naturalization and immigration. This is not merely an administrative correction—it signals a shift toward stricter enforcement of citizenship protocols.
The move gains significance in a climate where dual nationality and foreign affiliations are under growing scrutiny, especially among public officials and high-net-worth individuals. That the minister issued this without fanfare suggests existing records may already identify such cases, possibly linked to past controversies over lawmakers or executives holding foreign passports. The lack of transparency on the scale of affected individuals, however, leaves room for selective application.
Ordinary Nigerians who rely on passport services may see this as a step toward fairness, particularly those delayed by bureaucratic bottlenecks while others bypass rules through foreign status. It reinforces the principle that national documents must reflect legal reality, not sentiment or convenience.
This fits a broader pattern of piecemeal reforms in Nigeria's identity and border systems—often reactive, sometimes effective, but rarely part of a unified national database.
