Much ado about nothing, the case of dual citizenship and right to run for an office is a forgone conclusion in Nigeria, yet we're beating a dead horse. The appellate court has ruled on this matter, setting a legal precedent that is unlikely to be changed by the Supreme Court except if there is ambiguity in the interpretation. Keep in mind that Supreme court has ruled on a similar issues in the past "The Supreme Court Ruling on Electoral Act 2001 and Dual Citizens/Nigerian Citizens Resident Abroad" Check the following website for detail,    http://www.dawodu.com/aluko18.htm

I know some of us are not lawyers, thus, I don't expect us to know the modus operandi of the court. However, we can at least do some research using google or lexisnexis to search for cases relating to the issue in contention. For the record, I don't see Akala or PDP pursuing the case against Ajimobi to the supreme court because it is a loosing proposition. I don't even see Supreme Court taking up the case since the Appeal Court's and Federal Court ruling in 2004 and 2007 was congruent.

For the record, the Court of Appeal decision in the case of "Ogbeide vs. Osula {2004} 12 NWLR PART 886"  as pronounced by Justice  Adamu, reading the lead judgment, states that:

“WHEREAS a person who is a citizen of Nigeria by birth cannot have such citizenship forfeited or become ineligible to contest such elections under any circumstances even where Section 65(1) is read with Section 137. A person who is not a citizen of Nigeria can be so registered, but where he is not a citizen of that other country by birth, his registration will be conditioned on the renunciation of his citizenship of that other country. In other words, renunciation of citizenship does not apply to a citizen of this country by birth.

What one can make of that section read with Sections 25, 26 and 27 of the Constitution is that a citizen of this country by birth never loses his citizenship even where he holds dual citizenship of another country and cannot be disqualified from contesting elections into the House of Representatives for reasons only that he holds such dual citizenship.”

As such,  the Court’s pronouncement and reasoning is clear and logical and cannot be controverted. This Court of Appeal’s decision has been followed by a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja in the case of "Professor Odidi & Akeem Bello vs. INEC (Suit FHC/ABJ/CS/28/07)."   T[b]he applicants, in this case, had challenged the validity of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to disqualify the first two applicants, who were respectively the presidential and vice presidential candidates of the New Democrats Party, from contesting the 2007 presidential elections on the basis that both of them held citizenship of Canada and America (respectively). They stood disqualified from contesting the country’s presidency by virtue of the provision of Section 137(1) (a), of the Constitution. The presiding judge, Justice A.I Chikere quoted with approval the dictum of His Lordship, Adeniji JCA, in the Ogbeide case {supra} that
“A person who is a citizen of Nigeria by birth cannot have such citizenship forfeited or become ineligible to contest election under any circumstances even where section 65(1) in the present case is read together with Section 137 of the 1999 Constitution.”[/b]

The judge then directed INEC to register the two applicants to contest the 2007 election. Again, there is no where in the record that says INEC challenge the verdict in Appeal or Supreme Court because its lawyer know better. Hopefully Akala and PDP's lawyer will come to their senses soon. Except the aforementioned parties have too much money to spend on legal fees.

The jurisprudence in other countries and in international courts also follows this line of reasoning. The most recent decision on the matter seems to be the decision of European Court of Human Rights in the case of Tanase and Chirtoaca vs. Moldova, which the court delivered on the April 27, 2010. In that case, the applicants, both Moldovan nationals had challenged a 2008 amendment to the Moldovan Constitution which barred Moldovans who held dual nationality from contesting for parliamentary positions. The Grand Chamber of the Court held that the 2008 amendments were unlawful and disproportionate to any concern of loyalty the country may have. The court ruled that:


“…in a democracy, loyalty to a state did not necessarily mean loyalty to the actual government of that State or to a particular political party. There were other methods available to the Moldovan Government to ensure loyalty of MPs to the nation, such as requiring them to take an oath. Such measures had been adopted by other European countries.”


I don't intend to comment on this issue any longer because it is an effort in futility. I would rather stick with court's interpretation of Nigeria constitution as opposed to listening to "non-learned" opinions, which often the case is prevalent in our society. Adios  

@ndu_chucks, Supreme court does not need to rule since there is no judgement ambiguity on the part of Appeal court. Beside, appeal court verdict is a "Stare Decisis" that set precedent for any other legal issues that may arise on this matter. In legal world, Stare Decisis is a legal principle by which judges are obliged to respect the precedents established by prior decisions.

The only way Supreme court will rule on this matter is if there is no clarity on the interpretation, which is not the case in this matter, or other appeal court's judgement contradicts prior verdict issued by Justice Adeniji. As far as I can tell, the principle of "stare decisis" is likely to be obeyed by any judges adjudicating on this issue.

As far as i know, Alao Akala is wasting is time challenging Ajumobi's citizenship, if his lawyers can't prove that Ajumobi wasn't born in Nigeria, His case is tenuous and will likely loose.

Thes case of Dual Citizenship and the right to contest for a political office in Nigeria is already settled in the law suit filed (SUIT NO. FHC/ABJ/CS/28/07)  at Federal High Court in 2007 between:   

PROF. ISA ODIDI, HON. OLUWAFOLAJIMI AKEEM BELLO (NEW DEMOCRATS PARTY)……PLAINTIFFS
     
VS

INDEPENDENT NATIONAL ELECTORAL COMMISSION (INEC)                                           
PROFESSOR MAURICE IWU (CHAIRMAN INDEPENDENT NATIONAL ELECTORAL COMMISSION)……DEFENDANTS 

Bottom line, if you are a citizen of Nigeria by birth, the law of the land allows you to hold dual citizenship, and your dual citizenship does not disqualify you from contesting for any political office in Nigeria. However, if you are a naturalized citizen of Nigeria and hold dual citizenship with other country, you are not allowed to contest for any political office in Nigeria. I hope this answer your question.

See the verdict render by appeal court and federal high court below.

http://www.nigerianmuse.com/important_documents/?u=Odidi_Bello_Dual_Citizenship_Judgement.htm

In the case of Ogbeide vs Osula [2004] 12 NWLR part 886 page 86 at 138

         Adeniji (JCA) Justice Court of Appeal delivering lead Judge held as follows

         at page 127.

       

         B.   Section 29 deals with the issue of renunciation of a persons Nigerian

                citizenship while Section 25 deals with categories of Nigerian

                citizens. In other words, a person who is a citizen of Nigeria by birth

                cannot have such citizenship forfeited or become ineligible to



         C.    contest such elections under any circumstances even where Section

                65(1) is read with Section 1 37, a person who is not a citizen of

                Nigeria can he so registered, but where he is not a citizen of that other

                country by birth, his registration will be conditioned on the

                renunciation of his citizenship of that other country. In other words,

                renunciation of

       

         D.    citizenship does not apply to a citizen of this country by birth.

                The tribunal however held on page 121 paragraph 2 of the record that

                a Nigerian citizenship by his acquisition as the citizenship of another

                country, he would stand disqualified from being a member of the

       

         E.     National Assembly if he holds such dual citizenship or has subscribed

                 to an oath of allegiance to any other country. That I must say with

                 due respect, is not contained in the Section under scrutiny. What one

                 can make of that Section read with Sections 25, 26 and 27 of the 1999

                 Constitution is that a citizen of this country by birth never loses his

                 citizenship even where he holds dual citizenship of another country

                 and cannot be disqualified from contesting election into the House of

                 Representative for reasons only that he holds such dual citizenship.

       

         Section 137 provides for instance of disqualification while section 28 deals

         principally with the question of dual citizenship. By the decision of His

         Lordship Adeniji (JCA) Justice Court of Appeal page 127, "a person who is

         a citizen of Nigeria by birth cannot have such citizenship forfeited or

         became ineligible to contest election under any circumstance even where

         Section 65(1) in the present case Section 28 is read together with section 137

         of 1999 Constitution.

       

         The above case is in all fours with the present suit and by the doctrine of

         stare decises I am bound by the decision of the appellate Court. I adopt

         same as mine and hold that the 1999 Constitution of Federal Republic of

         Nigeria recognizes dual citizenship and same cannot be a hare for Plaintiffs

         to contest election especially when they are Nigerians by birth. I so hold.

       
         Accordingly reliefs 1, 2, 3 and 5 are granted, while relief 4 is refused.

This is a good step in the right direction. I am glad Ondo state government realized that government alone cannot solve all our problems, however,  with partnership with private sector, a lot can be done. Perhaps, i should declare that the era of waiting for government to solve our problem is over. I know some will like to say: "what happen to the revenue from from oil?" My simple answer is this: even with the constant cash flow from oil, government still have huge budget constraint to deal with. Take a look at the  fiscal expenditures of most states, it goes into salaries and pension. Only few percentages are made available for infrastructure, health and education development.

Of course their is still huge corruption that permeates the state government, even when you eradicate corruption 100%, government cannot still not deal with infrastructure problems alone.

To develop our moribund infrastructures and revive our lackluster industry, we must have strong and vibrant private sector. PPP is a step in the right direction. Now, Ondo state government must move quickly to set up Independent Power Project to aid this new manufacturing industry. They can use this same PPP concept to build new power plant.  That is, partner with private sector to develop the power plant. Waiting for Federal Government and PHCN to provide electricity is not going to cut it. It is time for state to take the lead because Abuja is paralyzed by politics.

No wonder the state, Anambra, is in crisis. Where is the outrage? The election outcome in Anambra is an harbinger of what to expect in the upcoming national election. Rigging and hooliganism galore! I can't wait to see how madam re-branding is going to spin this one. As far as i can tell PDP controls the Police and INEC by proxy which, of course, will make things difficult for lazy opposition parties.

My guess, there can't be a credible election in Nigeria until we have Independent Police and INEC. As long as PDP nominates,via Mr. President , who get to be police IG and INEC chairman, credible election will remain elusive.

Surprisingly, Nigerians are expecting flawless football from Amodu and his pensioners "aka super eagles." In this day and age, we still have grand pa Kanu playing for the national team, and we expect him to perform wonders. I suppose Nigerians are drinking a lot of coolaid nowadays. Personally, i don't waste my time watching pensioners play soccer, let alone watch Amodu's inept skills. I have decided to ignore the super eagles until Amodu is fired. I refuse to be bamboozle or hoodwink by our incompetent NFF and horrible Super Chicken.

Strategically, setting the cost of doing business aside, MTN is up to something. Ghana economy is doing well at the moment, oil money is going to start flowing to the economy 3rd quarter 2010. The  economic and political reform Ghanian's past administration put in place have, of course, positioned the country to even do better in the future. Unfortunately, Nigeria's leaderships are too myopic to see this,  let alone think strategically, they've been so burried with petty politics rather than doing what is right for the counry.

If we didn't get our house in other, here is what is going to happen: more companies and industries will shift their base to Ghana and send their goods to Nigeria under ECOWAS agreement. How is that going to work? Look no further than the  trade agreement that exist between ECOWAS countries. Companies that moves to Ghana will be able to capitalize on this agreement, and send their manufactred goods from Ghana to Nigeria tariff free. Keep in mind that the transportational cost that could make the goods expensive will be lowered once the rail line and roads between Nigeria and Ghana are completed.

Also, the security situation in Ghana makes it more condusive for business. By the time you add all these variables together, couple with higher operational cost of doing business in Nigeria, Ghana looks more attractive.

Nigeria can solve this probllem if we can get our act together.