This thread is so enlightening on dual citizenships. The constitution seem to contradicts itself.

May I ask: Is it possible for a governor of a Nigerian state to owe allegiance to two countries? I have not read in any of the posts here that Ajimobi renounced his US citizenship before contesting for the election.

The whole issue is puzzling, let's see how their lawyers crack this

I think many Nigerians are taking this dual nationality issue too far.

The people of Oyo State do not want Akala. Not even the court can impose Akala upon the people of Oyo state.

Akala should accept his fate and remove himself from Oyo politics. The people have spoken.

Ajumobi is a natural-born Nigerian and a naturalised American.

Ajumobi did not renounce his Nigerian citizenship at any time.

Therefore, Ajumobi is the governor-elect.

edicolove:

He is supposed to renounce the American citizenship

edicolove:

He is supposed to renounce the American citizenship

Section 182 from which the suit is being filed under says:

82. (1) No person shall be qualified for election to the office of Governor of a State 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;

28. (1) Subject to the other provisions of this section, a person shall
forfeit forthwith his Nigerian citizenship 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 person 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
effective 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.

edicolove:

Maybe Bukola could have been nailed by the same rule. Maybe his opponents never knew they could use it. It just might have nailed him.

dibiapeterchukwuka@yahoo.:

Funny! Dis is a simple case goin by our constitution. Ajumobi did not win election, AC N did! So if he is disqualified which is bound to be, his deputy will step in as de governor elect, So dat punk AKALA should walk down de street and hug wet and life transformer.

emmatok:

@edicolove

Why didn't Bukola Saraki renounce his citizenship after 2 terms in office?

This is another PDP game.

Jimmy Boy:

Based on my elementary knowledge law , I think Ajimobi need not loose sleep here, but let us even assume there is an issue here, the Governor sit does not automatically revert to PDP in this instance.

People voted for ACN and the the actual Vote  is not in question, so the worst that could happen is that another ACN member will still take over  by another  "doctrine of necessity".

We already have the precedence  in the case that brought Rotimi Ameachi of Rivers state  to power, he did not contest for the governorship election at all as the court disqualified the  person that won the election . Rather, the court ruled  that Rotimi Ameachi  should take over the Governeor's sit since he won the original PDP primary election and people voted for PDP anyway.

However, I repeat that Ajimobi has no case to answer since the section that brings this controversy is subject to another section 28 which does not Ajimobi at all.   

X-factoria:

Is that how far your knowledge of the constitution and the electoral act can take you? So if a party fields an unqualified candidate he would still retain its victory abi??  Is that what the electoral act told you? You must be in dreamland.

Make no mistake, If Ajimobi and ACN loses this case, Akala would unfortunately be sworn in for second term.

X-factoria:

Thank God you said you relied on your elementary knowledge. The Amaechi case is quite different from this. Amaechi won the primaries of the PDP but his name was substituted by his party's top hierarchy. The party could have gotten away with that if they had enough evidence to proof that the primaries were marred with irregularities. But unfortunately for PDP, INEC was present at the primaries and it adjudged it free and fair. So the court held that Amaechi was the authentic candidate.

Now, this case of Ajimobi bothers on his eligibility i.e. whether it was lawful for him to contest the election in the first place and whether it was right for the ACN to field an ineligible candidate or not.

If the court rules that Ajimobi was ineligible and should not have contested the election, both Ajimobi and ACN which is an accomplice in this crime are all losers and the penalty among other things is forfeiture of victory by both Ajimobi and ACN.


So you guys better get the difference clear.