At the Lagos State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal today, a US based Immigration lawyer testified in court that the deputy governor of Lagos State, Obafemi Hamzat, renounced his Nigerian Citizenship in order to acquire American citizenship in a place and date she cannot disclose due to some American Law against it.

Now, what does this portend for Sanwolu?

Trust me, if this is proven, then it’s “ite missa est” for Sanwolu. This is because the Supreme Court has ruled in Diri vs Lyon (Bayelsa Deputy Governor-Elect that had multiple names) that the Governorship candidate and his deputy are Siamese twins that are inseparable. Therefore, what happens to one, affects the other.

Now, why is the US immigration lawyer’s testimony a bad news for Hamzat?

Because the Nigerian Constitution states in section 177, that to be elected as governor of any state in Nigeria, you must be a Nigerian by birth. Now, we can agree that Hamzat is a Nigerian by birth but he has willingly relinquished that privilege when he renounced his Birth place (Nigeria) to take up the citizenship of another country. Or can his citizenship by birth privilege still subsist after he renounced Nigeria? I think not.

Now, is their any law against Hamzat’s action? Yes. Section 182 of the 1999 Constitution categorically states that one cannot be elected governor “if he has willingly pledged allegiance to another country”. That’s exactly what Hazmat has done.

NB: Every constitutional qualification requirement for the office of governor applies equally to the deputy governor since he is a “governor in waiting” should anything happen to the governor.

So, there you have it, except the petitioners fail to prove that indeed Hazmat renounced his Nigerian citizenship, or that Hazmat is able to prove that he renounced his American citizenship (impossible since it was stated in his INEC form), or some sort of technicality comes into play, Sanwolu will not be remaining the governor of Lagos State. And LP doesn’t even need to border proving rigging or voter suppression or failure to upload to IREV, this case alone, is enough to booth Sanwolu out.

But this is Nigeria!

All eyes on the judiciary!

Saraki the Senate President was a British Citizen

Penguin2:
At the Lagos State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal today, a US based Immigration lawyer testified in court that the deputy governor of Lagos State, Obafemi Hamzat, renounced his Nigerian Citizenship in order to acquire American citizenship in a place and date she cannot disclose due to some American Law against it.

Now, what does this portend for Sanwolu?

Trust me, if this is proven, then it’s “ite missa est” for Sanwolu. This is because the Supreme Court has ruled in Diri vs Lyon (Bayelsa Deputy Governor-Elect that had multiple names) that the Governorship candidate and his deputy are Siamese twins that are inseparable. Therefore, what happens to one, affects the other.

Now, why is the US immigration lawyer’s testimony a bad news for Hamzat?

Because the Nigerian Constitution states in section 177, that to be elected as governor of any state in Nigeria, you must be a Nigerian by birth. Now, we can agree that Hamzat is a Nigerian by birth by he has willingly relinquished that privilege when he renounced his Birth place (Nigeria) to take up the citizenship of another country. Or can his citizenship by birth privilege still subsist after he renounced Nigeria? I think not.

Now, is their any law against Hamzat’s action? Yes. Section 182 of the 1999 Constitution categorically states that one cannot be elected governor “if he has willingly pledged allegiance to another country”. That’s exactly what Hazmat has done.

NB: Every constitutional qualification requirement for the office of governor applies equally to the deputy governor since he is a “governor in waiting” should anything happen to the governor.

So, there you have it, except the petitioners fail to prove that indeed Hazmat renounced his Nigerian citizenship, or that Hazmat is able to prove that he renounced his American citizenship (impossible since it was stated in his INEC form), or some sort of technicality comes into play, Sanwolu will not be remaining the governor of Lagos State. And LP doesn’t even need to border proving rigging or voter suppression or failure to upload to IREV, that case alone, is enough to booth Sanwolu out.

But this is Nigeria!

All eyes on the judiciary!

APC is experiencing true opposition now
PDP was just doing big man for them and allow them to totally destroyed the country

Now before dey make any policies, they will think twice and push it out unofficially to see the reactions

Logically, is there need to renounce Nigeria citizenship since America allows dual citizenship and Nigeria allows triple citizenship.
What is the proof that he renounced Nigeria to be a naturalised us citizen?

You don’t have to renounce your Nigerian citizenship to be a Naturalised American citizen. Not sure what this nonsense rantings is all about.

But don’t kee yourself on top Lagos matter. Sanwo-Olu will finish his second term and there is not a damn thing you can do about it

Non of these politicians see Nigeria as home. They see Nigeria as their work place, a company where after making money, they send home to where their family and most expensive home is... Which is their real and true home..

This op with his/her half baked analysis all the time

Don't some of you people know how to give something a rest?

What happened to all the epistles you have been writing for years on this forum?

Penguin2:

NB: Every constitutional qualification requirement for the office of governor applies equally to the deputy governor since he is a “governor in waiting” should anything happen to the governor.

For me, this is where you argument falls apart and becomes an interpretation.

Hamzat can rightfully argue that he has never sought to be elected Gorvernor and those parts of the constitution do not apply to him.

He only has to satisfy parts of the constitution relating to Deputy Governors.

Also per your argument of him stepping in if anything happens to the Gorvernor, this can be extrapolated to everyone in the hierarchy of governance in the state (after the deputy governor) starting from the Leader of the State House of Assembly leader. Do they all have to fulfill the constitutional requirement of a Gorvernorship candidate too?

Christistruth03:
Saraki the Senate President was a British Citizen

British passport allows for dual citizenship. American passport DOES NOT. Lo gba research.

Sanwo Olu and Hamzat ran foul of the law. They have been illegitimate since 2019.

OmoFiditi:


British passport allows for dual citizenship. American passport DOES NOT. Lo gba research.

Sanwo Olu and Hamzat ran foul of the law. They have been illegitimate since 2019.

America allows dual Nationality, heck I have a friend who used to be a moderator here that has both an American and a Nigerian passport.

Christistruth03:
Saraki the Senate President was a British Citizen

And don't forget he was a 2-term governor

Ngige too

Penguin2:

Trust me, if this is proven, then it’s “ite missa est” for Sanwolu. This is because the Supreme Court has ruled in Diri vs Lyon (Bayelsa Deputy Governor-Elect that had multiple names) that the Governorship candidate and his deputy are Siamese twins that are inseparable. Therefore, what happens to one, affects the other.

Also, you are not comparing like with like.

In Diri vs Lyon, the Deputy Gorvernor elect was found to have actually flouted a requirement for ALL candidates presenting themselves to INEC for elective offices which was to produce true and proper copies of documents. Fake documents were produced which corrupted his and his Gorvernor's candidacy.

In this case, Deputy Gorvernor Hamzat has satisfied all the requirements for the position he is going for.

Clearly, no court will revoke the Senate President's election if they fulfilled the requirements for that position but not that for the President because they are third in line to the Presidency.

Mynd44:

America allows dual Nationality, heck I have a friend who used to be a moderator here that has both an American and a Nigerian passport.

"Naturalization Oath of Allegiance to the United States of America
Oath

"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; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God."


https://www.uscis.gov/citizenship/learn-about-citizenship/the-naturalization-interview-and-test/naturalization-oath-of-allegiance-to-the-united-states-of-america

Penguin2

Did you read Section 29 of the Nigerian constitution as pertaining to renouncing citizenships?

Being Nigerian by birth subsits registration so he is a Nigerian.

Do you know that Hamzat actually indicated this on his INEC form too?

Plus that lime barring executives only refers to Nigerians by nationalization not birth

Stop the misinformation.

Please can you tell us who is the Non-Nigerian?
There is a very lengthy process of renouncing Nigerian citizenship.
Announcing it on radio, social media or even swearing it in court, local or foreign
does not invalidate a Nigerian citizenship.

The issue before the court is that of a dual citizenship and and not a nationality status.

OmoFiditi:



"Naturalization Oath of Allegiance to the United States of America
Oath

"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; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God."


https://www.uscis.gov/citizenship/learn-about-citizenship/the-naturalization-interview-and-test/naturalization-oath-of-allegiance-to-the-united-states-of-america

By international law and Nigerian law, citizenship by birth subsits registration. You can take as much oath as you want.

Plus, you need to read section 29 of the Constitution to know how to renounce your Nigerian citizenship and it isn't by taking a foreign oath

aswani:


Also, you are not comparing like with like.

In Diri vs Lyon, the Deputy Gorvernor elect was found to have actually flouted a requirement for ALL candidates presenting themselves to INEC for elective offices which was to produce true and proper copies of documents. Fake documents were produced which corrupted his and his Gorvernor's candidacy.

In this case, Deputy Gorvernor Hamzat has satisfied all the requirements for the position he is going for.

Clearly, no court will revoke the Senate President's election if they fulfilled the requirements for that position but not that for the President because they are third in line to the Presidency.

I cited that case because it is the most recent decision of the Supreme Court that established that the Governor and the Deputy Governor are tied to the same umbilical chord; that is to say that if anything is later found defective on Hamzat, Sanwolu goes with him.

I was referring to the case because its facts and materials are same with Hamzat’s present case.

Penguin2:


I cited that case because it is the most recent decision of the Supreme Court that established that the Governor and the Deputy Governor are tied to the same umbilical chord; that is to say that if anything is later found defective on Hamzat, Sanwolu goes with him.

I was referring to the case because its facts and materials are same with Hamzat’s present case.

False. The act has been ammended after that incident to prevent such in future meaning only the deputy will be disqualified

aswani:


For me, this is where you argument falls apart and becomes an interpretation.

Hamzat can rightfully argue that he has never sought to be elected Gorvernor and those parts of the constitution do not apply to him.

He only has to satisfy parts of the constitution relating to Deputy Governors.

Also per your argument of him stepping in if anything happens to the Gorvernor, this can be extrapolated to everyone in the hierarchy of governance in the state (after the deputy governor) starting from the Leader of the State House of Assembly leader. Do they all have to fulfill the constitutional requirement of a Gorvernorship candidate too?

No, you are wrong.

I know what I was saying when I said that every requirement for office of governor is equally required of a deputy governor.

It’s constitutionally provided for in section 187 of the 1999 constitution.

It’s not subject to whimsical interpretations.

Mynd44:


False. The act has been ammended after that incident to prevent such in future meaning only the deputy will be disqualified

You might wanna cite the Act or Law for verification.

Because that judgment was in 2020, and between 2020 and now, I’m not aware of any such amendment.

Pray, what amendment is that and who sponsored it?

Because I suppose you are referring to the amendment that was made after the Kogi saga, and not Bayelsa.

Because to make any amendments against that judgment would be to say that the governor and his deputy, or president and his vice, are no longer running a joint ticket. And if that be the case, then we will start voting for the governor and deputy governor differently.

OmoFiditi:



"Naturalization Oath of Allegiance to the United States of America
Oath

"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; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God."


https://www.uscis.gov/citizenship/learn-about-citizenship/the-naturalization-interview-and-test/naturalization-oath-of-allegiance-to-the-united-states-of-america

Thank you for this.

My problem is that they see these things printed in black and white and they still argue it.

Even if the person is seen with knife dripping of blood with a corpse in front of him, they will still defend it.

This is troubling.

Penguin2:

No, you are wrong.

I know what I was saying when I said that every requirement for office of governor is equally required of a deputy governor.

It’s constitutionally provided for in section 187 of the 1999 constitution.

It’s not subject to whimsical interpretations.

Fair enough.

I thought you were making your case solely based on the fact that the deputy governor is the governor-in-waiting.

Penguin2:

You might wanna cite the Act or Law for verification.

Because that judgment was in 2020, and between 2020 and now, I’m not aware of any such amendment.

Pray, what amendment is that and who sponsored it?

Because I suppose you are referring to the amendment that was made after the Kogi saga, and not Bayelsa.

Because to make any amendments against that judgment would be to say that the governor and his deputy, or president and his vice, are no longer running a joint ticket. And if that be the case, then we will start voting for the governor and deputy governor differently.

The position of deputy governor is exclusively the affair of the party now.

If the deputy governor is disqualified by death, voluntary stepping down, resignation or court, the party nominates a new one. Or did anyone vote for Sanwo-Olu/Hamzat or APC?

You are not even bothered about Obi and GRV 's double nomination from both PDP and LP and also the fact that as at the time their names were sent to INEC as candidates, they were not even recognised members of LP.

One was cleared and screened by the PDP before he pulled out hours before the primary election.

Same as Peter Obi.

And as the electorla act has said, you can't contest for the same position in two different parties.

The legal knowledge of LP surpporters is really something to love

Mynd44:

The position of deputy governor is exclusively the affair of the party now.

If the deputy governor is disqualified by death, voluntary stepping down, resignation or court, the party nominates a new one. Or did anyone vote for Sanwo-Olu/Hamzat or APC?

You are not even bothered about Obi and GRV 's double nomination from both PDP and LP and also the fact that as at the time their names were sent to INEC as candidates, they were not even recognised members of LP.

One was cleared and screened by the PDP before he pulled out hours before the primary election.

Same as Peter Obi.

And as the electorla act has said, you can't contest for the same position in two different parties.

The legal knowledge of LP surpporters is really something to love

I thought you wanted us to stick to facts, why degenerate to emotional vituperations?

First, the Electoral Act says parties should submit their register to INEC 30 days before primaries, full stop. Did it say the consequences of not doing that? Did it say only those whose name are in the register are qualified to contest an election in such political party? Did the Electoral Act say people can no longer join the party after the register is submitted to INEC?

Again, about not contesting in two constituencies…. Oh! So you agree that double nominations is a ground for disqualification but you have always defended Shettima?

But gues what, unlike Shettima who got nominated in 2 constituencies, Obi and GRV only participated in the process of the primaries of another political party but never contested the primaries nor did they get nominated. So what law did that offend?

Mynd44:

The position of deputy governor is exclusively the affair of the party now.

If the deputy governor is disqualified by death, voluntary stepping down, resignation or court, the party nominates a new one. Or did anyone vote for Sanwo-Olu/Hamzat or APC?

You are not even bothered about Obi and GRV 's double nomination from both PDP and LP and also the fact that as at the time their names were sent to INEC as candidates, they were not even recognised members of LP.

One was cleared and screened by the PDP before he pulled out hours before the primary election.

Same as Peter Obi.

And as the electorla act has said, you can't contest for the same position in two different parties.

The legal knowledge of LP surpporters is really something to love

They make it too easy, I can’t wait till they are disgraced by the courts.

helinues:
This op with his/her half baked analysis all the time

Don't some of you people know how to give something a rest?

What happened to all the epistles you have been writing for years on this forum?

What epistles?

That you said Obi will not win a single Local Government during the presidential election, and I wrote to the contrary and stated how you were wrong.

Then you moved to “he will not win a single state; Atiku will win Anambra.” I wrote again to disprove your claim.

Then you moved to Obi will not get up to 1million votes and once again I wrote to demonstrate that you were wrong.

What happened in the end?

Did Obi not win a Local Government?

Did he not win a state?

Did he not score above 1 million votes?

Recall how I wrote here that Obi will win Lagos and you said it was malaria?

I said he would win Abuja and you said Abuja is Atiku’s fortress.

All of these came to pass.

What have I written here that was wrong?

Penguin2:

I thought you wanted us to stick to facts, why degenerate to emotional vituperations?

First, the Electoral Act says parties should submit their register to INEC 30 days before primaries, full stop. Did it say the consequences of not doing that? Did it say only those whose name are in the register are qualified to contest an election in such political party? Did the Electoral Act say people can no longer join the party after the register is submitted to INEC?

Again, about not contesting in two constituencies…. Oh! So you agree that double nominations is a ground for disqualification but you have always defended Shettima?

But gues what, unlike Shettima who got nominated in 2 constituencies, Obi and GRV only participated in the process of the primaries of another political party but never contested the primaries nor did they get nominated. So what law did that offend?

In the case of Shetimma, he participated in the primary, won and his name was sent to INEC. He then wrote to INEC informing them of his unwillingness to continue as the Senate candidate.

Also not that the position of VP is not an elective one. Just a spare in a joint ticket as he is not the main candidate.

In the case of both Obi and GRV, They resigned and left. As per the rules or election in Nigeria, there is a time limit for which you can pull out of election and not appearing on the day of the primary does not mean you pulled out, it only makes you absent. But you are still an aspirant.

As For LP register, candidates don't contest election in Nigeria, parties do. You have to be a member of the party to contest the election. Obi and GRV were not members of LP When they were nominated meaning they were not candidates in the first place.

There is a reason Wole Olanipekun added that to his preliminary objection. Refer to the judgment between Adeleke and Oyetola. Where the Supreme Court said the tribunal was wrong to have not considered the preliminary objection before diving into the case of Adeleke's alleged forgery case.

As for the first two sentences you wrote, it is common of Labor party supporters to resort to insults and foul talk. Keep it up, you are getting there