Some people have posited two schools of political thought in respect to Ajimobi’s gubernatorial debacle in Oyo State. One person suggested that Oyo people voted for ACN and such even if Ajimobi is disqualified, the slot till goes to ACN. This postulation is laughable. Democracy is a government of the people as well as government of the law. Political parties sponsor candidates and candidates win election. If Ajimobi is disqualified, the candidate of the party that came second shall be declared governor.

Another person gave an example of a deputy governor who was disqualified. Granted the deputy governor is part of the ticket, the deputy is not the flag bearer. If the flag bearer is disqualified, the entire ticket, including the sponsoring party, is disqualified for such particular position.

Dede1:

I do not know how many people who contributed to this thread are naturalized American citizen and still insinuate Ajimobi did not renounce his Nigerian citizenship.

I am not sure there are instances in Nigeria constitution where dual citizenship is allowed or expressed. If dual citizenship is allowed in Nigeria, what are the purpose of sections182 and 28 in the constitution?

The NAS has not passed any bill that allows dual citizenship between Nigeria and any other country or vice versa. You can not acquire citizenship of every country in the world and selfishly assume your country allows dual citizenship. There must be an act of NAS that expresses such arrangement.

If Ajimobi is a naturalized citizen of USA, where he could vote and be voted as governor, he did renounce his citizenship of another country, including Nigeria, the day he attended the citizenship ceremony in USA.

Dede1,
If indeed Ajimobi is a naturalized citizen of the USA, then by definition, he must have renounced his Nigerian citizenship. Many naturilized US citizens from Nigeria, keep using their Nigerian passports illegaly - even after renouncing their Nigerioan citizenship as required, in order to become a US citizen. If Ajimobi were a naturalized citizen of any other country, he would have been OK.

wahala dey for Ajimobi o.

Am not a lawyer though but i believe the gov elect might lose the case.

ndu_chucks:

If indeed Ajimobi is a naturalized citizen of the USA, then by definition, he must have renounced his Nigerian citizenship.

Nope, US allows dual citizenship: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_nationality_law#Dual_citizenship

It is possible that Nigeria does not; I don't know (but think it does.)

ekt_bear:

Nope, US allows dual citizenship: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_nationality_law#Dual_citizenship

It is possible that Nigeria does not; I don't know (but think it does.)

The issue is not whether US allows dual citizenship, both US and Nigeria allow it. Now if you were born in the USA to Nigerian parents, you become a US citizen and also a Nigerian citizen - you are not required to renounce the citizenship of either country in this case. If this is the case with Ajimobi, he has no case to answer.

If on the other hand, Ajimobi is a naturalized US citizen, he must have renounced his Nigerian citizenship because that action is a prerequisite for becoming a naturalized US citizen. Ajimobi gave up his Nigerian citizenship by the renounciation process required by US law! If ths is the case, then he should lose this case.

ndu_chucks:

he must have renounced his Nigerian citizenship because that action is a prerequisite for becoming a naturalized US citizen. Ajimobi gave up his Nigerian citizenship by the renounciation process required by US law!

False. Read the link I posted

@ekt_bear,

Go and read the Oath of citizenship of the US.

Excerpt from oath of citizenship of the US:

I hereby declare, on oath,

•that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen;

Ajimobi should be very worried.

For the love of God

read what I linked to.

I went through this naturalization process too some years ago and didn't lose my Nigerian citizenship (I asked them specifically about this.)

There is no point in us discussing if you won't read the info widely available.

The law is not always what it says literally - one other way planetarians complicate each other's lifes.

Dual citizenship http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizenship_in_the_United_States
A person who is considered a citizen by more than one nation has dual citizenship. It is possible for a United States citizen to have dual citizenship, for example by birth in the United States to a parent who is a citizen of a foreign country. Anyone who becomes a naturalized U.S. citizen is required to renounce any prior citizenship during the naturalization ceremony; however, this renunciation may not necessarily be considered effective by the country of prior citizenship. United States citizens are required by federal law to identify themselves with a U.S. passport, not with any foreign passport, when entering the US. The Supreme Court case of Afroyim v. Rusk declared that a U.S. citizen did not lose his citizenship by voting in an election in a foreign country, or by acquiring foreign citizenship, if such acts did not require him to explicitly renounce his U.S. citizenship.

The concept of dual citizenship (while not unique to the U.S.) has been the subject of controversy in the U.S. Michael Barone in US News argued that "dual citizenship is a threat to the American tradition of patriotic assimilation" as well as possibly undermining American sovereignty,[20] while others have argued that the effects are less pernicious.[20] Americans who have dual citizenship do not lose their United States citizenship unless they renounce it officially.[21] When Mexico allowed people to become dual citizens, many Mexican-born American residents sought dual citizenship; in this case, dual citizenship with Mexico and the US. This dual status offers benefits such as the ability to own property anywhere in Mexico, and legal status to live and work in either country; but one drawback is that dual citizens cannot hold political office in Mexico.[21] Before 1998, many Mexicans were reluctant to become United States citizens, fearing they would lose real estate, inheritances or businesses in Mexico.[21] In 2003 in the United States, there were 32.8 million Hispanics; of these, 21.7 million were from Mexico or had Mexican heritage; of these, 7.8 million had been born in Mexico; and of these, 1.6 million had become American citizens; of these, 30,000 had become dual citizens from 2000 to 2003.[21]

ekt_bear:

For the love of God
read what I linked to.
I went through this naturalization process too some years ago and didn't lose my Nigerian citizenship (I asked them specifically about this.)
There is no point in us discussing if you won't read the info widely available.

ndu_chucks:

@ekt_bear,
Go and read the Oath of citizenship of the US.
Excerpt from oath of citizenship of the US:
I hereby declare, on oath,
•that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen;
Ajimobi should be very worried.

ekt

Do not mind ndu and Dede1, the man says he is not an American citizen, they are making noise, I am a Nigerian and Canada PR and I have got a SIN (Social Insurance Number), does that make me a citizen, Akala should just prepare jejeli for prison. The Nigerian constitution allows dual citizenship, USA allows dual citizenship, the supreme court has settled the case, why are they stressing now. Ndu chucks you are falling my hand seriously o, you used to be objective but now u don change, abeg change again to the old ndu_chucks.

@ekt_bear,

If you were naturalized, you must have taken the oath wherein you renounced absolutely and entirely and abjure all allegiance to Nigeria. You swore to this!  I maintain that Ajimobi has a case to answer, lets see what the supreme court of Nigeria will say about the issue. The supreme court of Nigeria is the ultimate decider in this case, not the US supreme court.

@ Ndu, I dont think the case is as clear cut as it seems. There is a patent contradiction between:

Based on the U.S. Department of State regulation on dual citizenship (7 FAM 1162), the Supreme Court of the United States has stated that dual citizenship is a "status long recognized in the law" and that "a person may have and exercise rights of nationality in two countries and be subject to the responsibilities of both. The mere fact he asserts the rights of one citizenship does not without more mean that he renounces the other," (Kawakita v. U.S., 343 U.S. 717) (1952)

emphasis mine

taken from Ekt_bears quote and this:

•that I absolutely and[b] entirely renounce[/b] and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen;

i see a messy legal tussle ahead

@ndu_chucks:

I am beginning to suspect you are trolling. Certainly you cannot be so s.tupid.

[size=18pt]In Schneider v. Rusk 377 U.S. 163 (1964), the US Supreme Court ruled that a naturalized U.S. citizen has the right to return to his native country and to resume his former citizenship, and also to remain a U.S. citizen even if he never returns to the United States.[/size]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_nationality_law#Dual_citizenship

The Supreme Court of the US is the FINAL arbiter on US law.

Regardless of how you are interpreting the oath taken, naturalized Nigerian-Americans retain their Nigerian citizenship (at least, from the US end.)

Now, Nigeria might feel differently about the situation. But from the US end, there is no confusion.

ndu_chucks:

@ekt_bear,

Go and read the Oath of citizenship of the US.

Excerpt from oath of citizenship of the US:

I hereby declare, on oath,

•that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen;

Ajimobi should be very worried.

What you are concerned about is no longer enforced in the USA. The oath itself has little to no teeth in reality (in regards to most folks with Dual citizenships). Ajimobi has little to be afraid of really. Even the US grappled with situations like that before relaxing their administration of the oath, it's enforcement and implication for naturalized citizens.

One good thing to keep in mind is that Judges are generally not dumb people, they think about the far reaching public policy implications of judicial decisions.

Nigeria as a state, is a federation of several communities bound together by law, circumstance and history. It will be very hard to cut an Ibadan man from his right to the privileges of Nigerian citizenship when Ibadan is still part of Nigeria. IMO

Also a similar case: Nigerian Democrats Party Vs INEC was decided in favor of NDP presidential and VP candidates despite their Canadian and USA citizenships. I see no reason why a governorhip case should be decided differently.

See this explanation by a US lawyer:

Question: But I thought US law didn't permit one to be a dual citizen -- that if you were (by birth or otherwise), you either had to give up the other citizenship when you came of age, or else you'd lose your US status. And that if you became a citizen of another country, you'd automatically lose your US citizenship. So what's all this talk about dual citizenship?

Answer: It indeed used to be the case in the US that you couldn't hold dual citizenship (except in certain cases if you had dual citizenship from birth or childhood, in which case some Supreme Court rulings -- Perkins v. Elg (1939), Mandoli v. Acheson (1952), and Kawakita v. U.S. (1952) -- permitted you to keep both). However, most of the laws forbidding dual citizenship were struck down by the US Supreme Court in two cases: a 1967 decision, Afroyim v. Rusk, as well as a second ruling in 1980, Vance v. Terrazas.

Rules against dual citizenship still apply to some extent -- at least in theory -- to people who wish to become US citizens via naturalization. The Supreme Court chose to leave in place the requirement that new citizens must renounce their old citizenship during US naturalization. However, in practice, the State Department is no longer doing anything in the vast majority of situations where a new citizen's "old country" refuses to recognize the US renunciation and continues to consider the person's original citizenship to be in effect.

The official US State Department policy on dual citizenship today is that the United States does not favor it as a matter of policy because of various problems they feel it may cause, but the existence of dual citizenship is recognized (i.e., accepted) as a fact of life. That is, if you ask them if you ought to become a dual citizen, they will recommend against doing it; but if you tell them you are a dual citizen, they'll almost always say it's OK.

Public policy implications sometimes trump legalistic ones.

^^^It might interest you to note that the man has even claimed he is not a dual citizen.

Oyo State governor-elect, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, on Thursday, debunked the claim that he has dual citizenship, describing it as mischievous and unfounded.

Ajimobi, in a statement signed by his Director of Media and Publicity, Mr Yanju Adegbite, denied ever being a dual citizen of Nigeria and the United States of America.

Pray, what then is he?

@ekt_bear

I did not know when Nigeria becomes one of the states that made up USA. There is no doubt USA allows dual citizenship especially with Israel but there no instances in Nigerian constitution, foreign ministry directives or act of NAS which encouraged dual citizenship.

If USA enacts law that allows open gay marriage for its citizens, such act does not compel a citizen of USA to visit Nigeria with the comforts of open gay marriage.

@Mail_Suya

He is a Nigerian citizen with American residence permit.

Mai Suya:

^^^It might interest you to note that the man has even claimed he is not a dual citizen.

Pray, what then is he?

If his claim is true, then case dismissed.

@Dede1:
I am not claiming that because the US allows dual citizenship, Nigeria must allow the same.

But the point is that, contrary to the misleading and erroneous posts of both you and ndu_chucks, Ajumobi did NOT resign his Nigerian citizenship by virtue of becoming a naturalized American (if he in fact is an American citizen now, something he denies.)

hercules07:

@Mail_Suya

He is a Nigerian citizen with American residence permit.

Right!  So I join the others in saying, CASE DISMISSED!   Gbam!

This is sa by Akara if Ajimobi is just a resident. Ima Resident too and would never become a US citizen because i read the Nigerian constitution some years ago and I don't want anyone to give me wahala when I'm trying to become the first Igbo Governor of Lagos.
In my personal opinion, dual citizens should not be govs/presidents. It puts allegiance in question

ekt_bear:

@Dede1:
I am not claiming that because the US allows dual citizenship, Nigeria must allow the same.

But the point is that, contrary to the misleading and erroneous posts of both you and ndu_chucks, Ajumobi did NOT resign his Nigerian citizenship by virtue of becoming a naturalized American (if he in fact is an American citizen now, something he denies.)

It is unfortunate you select a statement that pleases your plank of argument. But you chose to overlook the fact Ajimobi can not enjoy every privilege a citizen in good standing gets in USA because he has skeletons in closet by his stealth allegiance to Nigeria.

The link you posted did not deny the fact any naturalized USA citizen renounces the citizenship of another country during citizenship ceremony. Whether USA enforces such clause or not is very irrelevant. Further, the article stated the fact America allows dual citizenship does compel another country to accept it.

What USA does with its enforcement of citizenship has no legal bearing on Nigeria.

The constitution is clear. If he is an american citizen then he should be disqualified.

Dede1:

It is unfortunate you select a statement that pleases your plank of argument. But you chose to overlook the fact Ajimobi can not enjoy every privilege a citizen in good standing gets in USA because he has skeletons in closet by his stealth allegiance to Nigeria.

How on earth am I selectively choosing statements? I'm choosing ruling from the Supreme Court of the US. The final arbiter on the law of this land. Of what relevance is any other authority?

The link you posted did not deny the fact any naturalized USA citizen renounces the citizenship of another country during citizenship ceremony. Whether USA enforces such clause or not is very irrelevant.

Are you being s.tupid here on purpose, or trolling like ndu_chucks? In the former case, I suggest you educate yourself about this topic. Reread more slowly what has been posted already regarding the laws. If the latter, then I'll ignore you.

Further, the article stated the fact America allows dual citizenship does compel another country to accept it.

What USA does with its enforcement of citizenship has no legal bearing on Nigeria.  

Of course, this is obvious. I stated this already.

However, the point of my post was to debunk silly statements like this

Dede1:

I do not know how many people who contributed to this thread are naturalized American citizen and still insinuate Ajimobi did not renounce his Nigerian citizenship.
.
.
.
If Ajimobi is a naturalized citizen of USA, where he could vote and be voted as governor, he did renounce his citizenship of another country, including Nigeria, the day he attended the citizenship ceremony in USA.

@ekt_bear, it is unbecoming of you to call people who disagree with you stup.id or trolling. There is no denying that if you are a Nigerian citizen, in order to become a naturalized USA citizen, you will swear under oath as follows:

I hereby declare, on oath,

•that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen;

The state and sovereignty refered to above would be Nigeria. It is also a fact that the Nigerian supreme court can rule that, having taken such an oath, you would have given up your Nigerian citizenship, regardless of any US supreme court pronouncement. Lets wait for the Supreme court of Nigeria to rule on this issue, if at all it gets to them.

If indeed Ajimobi took such an oath, I submit to you that, the supreme court of Nigeria can and should rule that he indeed renounced his citizenship. Now, if Ajimobi is not a naturalized US citizen, then the whole point is moot.

What is so difficult to understand about what I've just written?

1. Nigeria allows dual citizenship

2. The U.S. allows dual citizenship

3. A Nigerian governor cannot be a dual citizen

4. Ajimobi is not a dual citizen



That's all.

ekt_bear:

How on earth am I selectively choosing statements? I'm choosing ruling from the Supreme Court of the US. The final arbiter on the law of this land. Of what relevance is any other authority?
Are you being s.tupid here on purpose, or trolling like ndu_chucks? In the former case, I suggest you educate yourself about this topic. Reread more slowly what has been posted already regarding the laws. If the latter, then I'll ignore you.
Of course, this is obvious. I stated this already.

However, the point of my post was to debunk silly statements like this

I guess the person who has exhibited stupidity in this argument and lack of comprehension is you. It is either you do not understand the connotation of USA Supreme Court case you cited or you failed to see it did not deliberate on the renunciation subject or the oath administered during naturalization ceremony. Despite the case you citied, the oath ceremony is till administered to naturalized citizens today.

Again, the case simply stated  that naturalized citizens of USA are free to return to the country of birth and enjoy all privileges yet return as a citizen of USA. This ruling does not say anything about renunciation of citizenship as held by Nigeria or USA in that matter.

^-- My posts were to debunk the stupidity posted here:

ndu_chucks:


Dede1,
If indeed Ajimobi is a naturalized citizen of the USA, then by definition, he must have renounced his Nigerian citizenship. Many naturilized US citizens from Nigeria, keep using their Nigerian passports illegaly - even after renouncing their Nigerioan citizenship as required, in order to become a US citizen. If Ajimobi were a naturalized citizen of any other country, he would have been OK.

wahala dey for Ajimobi o.

At least from the American side, it should be clear from the posts above that what you posted is 100% wrong. . . . that oath in no way is a renouncement of foreign citizenship. As the US Supreme Court rulings have made clear.

ndu_chucks:

@ekt_bear, it is unbecoming of you to call people who disagree with you stup.id or trolling. There is no denying that if you are a Nigerian citizen, in order to become a naturalized USA citizen, you will swear under oath as follows:

I hereby declare, on oath,

•that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen;

The state and sovereignty refered to above would be Nigeria.  It is also a fact that the Nigerian supreme court can rule that, having taken such an oath, you would have given up your Nigerian citizenship, regardless of any US supreme court pronouncement. Lets wait for the Supreme court of Nigeria to rule on this issue, if at all it gets to them.

If indeed Ajimobi took such an oath, I submit to you that, the supreme court of Nigeria can and should rule that he indeed renounced his citizenship. Now, if Ajimobi is not a naturalized US citizen, then the whole point is moot.

What is so difficult to understand about what I've just written?

So you are arguing that the supreme court of Nigeria "can and should rule" that all such people who took that oath (i.e., all naturalized Nigerian-Americans) have forfeighted their Nigerian citizenship?

This is what you expect to happen?

Lemme put it this way. . . I hope that you aren't holding your breath for that outcome.

@ekt_bear, Lets wait and see then. Everyone knows what "renounce and abjure all allegiance to Nigeria" under oath means. Lets hope Nigerian Supreme court will see it the way you do. If not, you may not be a Nigerian any more, you may very well be an Akata

Dede1:

I guess the person who has exhibited stupidity in this argument and lack of comprehension is you. It is either you do understand the connotation of USA Supreme Court case you cited or it did not deliberate on the renunciation subject or the oath administered during naturalization ceremony. Despite the case you citied, the oath ceremony is till administered to naturalized citizens today.

Again, the case simply stated  that naturalized citizens of USA are free to return to the country of birth and enjoy all privileges yet return as a citizen of USA. This ruling does not say anything about renunciation of citizenship as held by Nigeria or USA in that matter.  

You are truly an i.d.iot. The oath by itself doesn't constitute a renouncement of foreign citizenship (at least from the US end of things.) This is the interpretation of the law given by the US Supreme Court.

Otherwise, if that oath DID constitute a renouncement of foreign citizenship, then that would mean that the US would not recognize naturalized citizens as dual citizens. Which it does.

Now, as everyone here has noted, from the Nigerian end, perhaps things are different. Perhaps that oath means that Nigeria refuses to recognize any such people who took that oath as Nigerian citizens. However, I wouldn't suggest holding your breath waiting for this outcome.

ekt_bear:

^-- My posts were to debunk the stupidity posted here:
At least from the American side, it should be clear from the posts above that what you posted is 100% wrong. . . . that oath in no way is a renouncement of foreign citizenship. As the US Supreme Court rulings have made clear.

So you are arguing that the supreme court of Nigeria "can and should rule" that all such people who took that oath (i.e., all naturalized Nigerian-Americans) have forfeighted their Nigerian citizenship?

This is what you expect to happen?

Lemme put it this way. . . I hope that you aren't holding your breath for that outcome.

This is a display of acute ignorance. Included in the link you submitted are these:

“A person who is considered a citizen by more than one nation has dual citizenship. It is possible for a United States citizen to have dual citizenship, for example by birth in the United States to a parent who is a citizen of a foreign country. Anyone who becomes a naturalized U.S. citizen is required to renounce any prior citizenship during the naturalization ceremony; however, this renunciation may not necessarily be considered effective by the country of prior citizenship.
United States citizens are required by federal law to identify themselves with a U.S. passport, not with any foreign passport, when entering the US. The Supreme Court case of Afroyim v. Rusk declared that a U.S. citizen did not lose his citizenship by voting in an election in a foreign country, or by acquiring foreign citizenship, if such acts did not require him to explicitly renounce his U.S. citizenship.”


If the USA Supreme Court case you cited had allowed unalloyed dual citizenship, the concerned citizens should be allowed into USA with the passport of another country.

You lacked basic comprehensible pedigree which made you an irrepressible dullard.