The Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, has said that a copy of his United Kingdom passport that was recently posted online was forged.
In a statement issued on Sunday by his Special Assistant on New Media, Bamikole Omishore, Saraki said he had contacted his lawyer in the UK to write relevant agencies on the issue, called for a thorough investigation into the matter.
“Saraki, on July 19, 2015, instructed his solicitors in the UK to write the UK Home Office to commence an immediate investigation into this act of criminality. There is no doubt that this is a typical criminal offence against the state and also an act of defamation of character against the President of the Senate. Whoever is found responsible should be prosecuted,” Saraki said in a statement posted on Facebook on Sunday.
The former Kwara State governor was responding to a report by an online media that, being a dual citizen, he is not qualified to hold a public office in Nigeria.
The report alleged that Saraki intentionally avoided stating his place of birth while filling the Independent National Electoral Commission form in order to conceal his UK citizenship.
But the Senate President argued that his United Kingdom citizenship did not disqualify him from occupying a public office in Nigeria.
In a tweet, he said only those who “voluntarily” acquired foreign citizenship could be disqualified.
He said his British citizenship was acquired by birth and not “voluntarily,” insisting that he was qualified for any political office. He argued that the foreign citizenship was an “inalienable right” which he could not have forfeited.
“There has always been a flawed misconception on the issue of dual citizenship vis-a-vis a holder of public office in Nigeria. Section 28 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) deals with this; it highlights the fact that only those who are Nigerians by registration or naturalisation shall forfeit their citizenship if they acquire the citizenship of another country.
“It is important to state that the requirement to forfeit Nigerian nationality/citizenship upon acquisition of the nationality/citizenship of another country does not apply to persons who are Nigerians by birth within the definition of Section 25 of the Constitution. This section also acknowledges and protects the right to hold citizenship by birth of another country.
“Citizens of a country by birth do not need to swear to an oath of allegiance to that country. It is only a citizenship acquired through naturalisation and registration that has the requirement to take an oath of allegiance,” he continued on Facebook.
According to him, there is no evidence that he swore an oath of allegiance to the UK. He said that he had never denied holding the foreign citizenship, adding, “A dual citizenship does not mean that a public office holder had changed his nationality in the past.
“It simply means he has held both citizenships simultaneously without the need to acquire one after the other. As both were acquired by birth, the Senate President automatically had both citizenships bestowed on him from the moment of his birth.”
