159 Nigerians renounced their citizenship

The Federal Government says no fewer than 159 Nigerians renounced their citizenships in 2022 alone.

The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr Shuaib Belgore, disclosed this at the 64th session of the State House Ministerial briefing organized by the Presidential Communications Team, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Thursday, January 26.

He mentioned that 150 Nigerians renounced their citizenship between 2006 to 2021.

Also speaking at the Ministerial briefing, the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, said the massive exodus of Nigerians out of the county in search of greener pastures in a phenomenon now popularly referred to as “Japa syndrome,” is fueling high demands for passports.

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He stated that in 2022, the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) issued the highest number of passport booklets totaling 1,899,683 in over seven years. He also revealed that at least 70 foreign nationals have been deported for various infractions in the last two years.

“In the last two years, the Minister issued a total of 70 deportation orders for the deportation of different nationals from Nigeria due to one infraction or the other.

The majority of those deported were from the Democratic Republic of Korea, Egypt, Sri Lanka and a host of others.” he said