Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Nigeria’s president-elect, Bola Tinubu, is currently finding himself at the center of a fresh controversy as allegation of holding dual citizenship has surfaced.
A photo of the bio-page of a Guinea Conakry passport allegedly belonging to Mr. Tinubu has surfaced online after popular influencer, David Hundeyin shared a copy on his Twitter handle.
This revelation could have severe implications for Tinubu’s political career, as dual citizenship disqualifies a Nigerian from aspiring for the office of Nigerian president, which Bola Tinubu contested and was declared the winner of the February 25, 2023 election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Reports say a source claimed that early in April, 2023, the Guinea Conakry passport was discovered during a routine investigation into the financial assets of Nigerian politicians.
The source claimed to have verified the passport’s authenticity, raising questions about Tinubu’s eligibility to hold the number one public office in Nigeria, according to legal experts should the revelation be proven to be true.
The Nigerian Constitution, Chapter 6, Part 1, Section 137 clearly states: ” (1) A person shall not be qualified for election to the office of the president if -(a) subject to the provisions of section 28 of this Constitution, he has voluntarily acquired the citizenship of a country other than Nigeria or, except in such cases as may be prescribed by the National Assembly, he has made a declaration of allegiance to such other country.”
This revelation also raises another legal bottleneck for Tinubu. He could be accused of perjury as the forms he submitted to INEC under oath show that he did not declare any foreign citizenship on the form.
Hundeyin wrote: “On Tinubu’s INEC EC9 declaration, he stated that he has not obtained any other citizenship.
“But he has Guinean citizenship, with his Guinean passport stating clearly that he was born in Nigeria – which means he obtained Guinean citizenship.
“This is perjury. Lying under oath. pic.twitter.com/Kh1vXkcrB2
“— David Hundeyin (@DavidHundeyin) April 16, 2023″