Bola Ahmed Tinubu: ‘Dual Citizen Nigerian’© cannot constitutionally be President

Bola Ahmed Tinubu: ‘Dual Citizen Nigerian’© cannot constitutionally be President

 

Ipemndoh dan Iyan

 

“I know [Bola Ahmed Tinubu] carries a Nigerian passport. I don’t know about dual citizenship. ... I don’t know if they gave him American citizenship. What does that have to do with the results of the election? The last time I checked, I think the Nigerian constitution allows you to have dual citizenship. Doesn’t it?” Babatunde Fashola, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) –https://gazettengr.com/guinean-passport-nigerian-constitution-allows-tinubu-to-hold-dual-citizenship-fashola-says/.

 

Babatunde Fashola SAN tripping

 

Two Points of Relevance from Fashola’s Statement. Firstly; he said he “think[s] the Nigerian constitution allows ... dual citizenship.” This suggests that he does not know for certain. Secondly; since he does not know for certain what the Nigerian Constitution permits, it is ordinarily foolhardy his Adversity of “What does [dual Citizenship] have to do with the results of the election” which was Mahmood Yakubu’s anointing of Tinubu as the President-Elect. By the Way, Yakubu is the disreputable Chair of Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

 

Nigeria’s Jurisprudence: limited Grasp of the English Language and stunted cognitive Complexity

 

Perhaps, the Constitution of Nigeria 1999 should have been written in 'Wazobia', that is, in Yoruba (Wa), Hausa (Zo) and Igbo (Bia). By the Way, the guy who devised 'Wazobia' worked at Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) on Victoria Island when I was there around late 1970s/very early 1980s. He was a Secretary. No, not Secretary to the NTA Board but to a Manager. Anyway, back to Track. The English Language seems a huge Challenge for Nigerians to surmount and Nigeria’s existing Constitution is written in the Language. One has to have firm Grasp of this Language before One can begin to comprehend Texts produced in the Script. There are Nigerians who have never read Law as sole Degree Study or as a Module of their Degree Discipline or as an Element of their Degree Composition or as an integrated Aspect of their pregraduate Study and/or postgraduate Qualification, if at all with any postgraduate Certification or with even a University Degree who deceive themselves that they are able to read legal Texts and understand them. This is notwithstanding that their Adequacy in and with the English Language is abominable; see my https://twitter.com/IP_dan_Iyan/status/1363998941625335808?s=19. Within the foregoing ‘Parades of Delusion’© are those who talk authoritatively on legal Matters yet all they are doing is just regurgitating what SAN this has said or what SAN that has opined or what a Professor who has only the Bachelor’s Degree with the poorest Honours’ Classification, and not even in a discursive or an inquiring Area of Study, in plagiarising Others has disgorged. I replied to someone on Twitter over a dual Citizen Nigerian’s Eligibility for the Office of the President of Nigeria thus: “If you have another Citizenship ... you cannot be Nigeria's President. Mad, extremely, Persons talk cos they believe Selves "clever." Read s.137 of Nigeria's Constitution 1999. Besides, why would @officialABAT ordinarily have a diplomatic Passport?” – https://twitter.com/IP_dan_Iyan/status/1648251436168355840?t=Cz_fcwKvDc6viwtGe4p81g&s=19. The Person rejoined with “S.137 is subject to what s.28 says.I’ll advise you them together. S.28 permits Nigerians by Birth to acquire citizenship of other counties. Only foreigners in Nigeria who have acquired Nigerian citizenship but go ahead to acquire another is prohibited from elective office” - https://twitter.com/theClevite/status/1648292225111957508?t=MCOvqG79M1Wnr5z3Tj3aGg&s=19. Please, note that I have represented the Person’s Rejoinder verbatim (with its bad English). I found this Person’s Rejoinder incognizant of my Reply to his original Post that he was supposedly responding to. One; I had not written that Nigerians cannot be dual Citizens. Two; he did not say how the operation of “S.137” is contingent upon “S.28” save for paraphrasing the wording of s.137(1)(a) without even making Efforts to use own Words. Three; it was clear he does not understand the Meaning of s.28 (1) which is the apposite Provision. Read again his “Only foreigners [with] Nigerian citizenship [and with another non-birth Citizenship are] prohibited from elective office.” This young Man believes that a naturalized Nigerian with another naturalized Citizenship remains Nigerian. Thus, a naturalized Nigerian can be a dual Citizen with another naturalized Identity. I am pretty certain that he would argue that this not what he claimed, but it is exactly what his Sentence stated. Here you find another Example of the Nigerian Tussle with the English Language. The following is what s.28(1) concerns itself with: (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.” Read this Provision constructionally, interpretatively and normatively. No Lawyer with a firm Grasp of the English Language can be confused about the Intention of this Condition. In whatever Way or whichever Manner any Nigerian, Lawyer or not, desires to read this Section, there is absolutely no Need to be inventive about the inevitable legal Status talked about. This is a Person who is de jure no longer Nigerian. So, where is the Need for such Persons to be “prohibited from elective office?” A non-Nigerian is, ipso facto, ineligible for elective Office, the Presidency or not. This is simple normative Logic. Four; not s.28(1) or the whole of s.28 mentions “elective office.” Five; our Friend did not tell how his “S.28 permits Nigerians by Birth to acquire citizenship of other counties” [sic] interprets as 'a ‘dual Citizen Nigerian’ can contest political Office, including the Presidency'.   

 

In the legal ‘Constructionist’ Tradition, the Question of a dual Citizen Nigerian becoming Nigeria’s President is straight-forwardly clear. Such a Person is constitutionally barred, locked out. Period.  Section 137 (1)(a) of the 1999 Constitution preambles that “A person shall not be qualified for election to the office of President if” and clarifies, inter alia, in “(a) subject to the provisions of section 28 of this Constitution, he has voluntarily acquired the citizenship of a country other than Nigeria ... .” This is a Caveat in the Constitution clearly concerned with dual Citizenship in the Nigerian Jurisdiction. So, what is in “section 28 of [Nigeria’s 1999] Constitution” that s.137(1)(a) needs to take Instruction from? In Effect, s.28(1) talks of three Statuses; a Nigerian (i) by birth who is a dual Citizen, (ii) not by Birth (naturalized) and (iii) the naturalized Nigerian no longer Nigerian. Is the Gist of s.137(1)(a) Reference to s.28(1) one that a (1) non-Nigerian cannot challenge for the Presidency or (2) naturalized Nigerian cannot also or (3) Nigerian by birth with dual Citizenship can? The Person at (1) definitely cannot stand to be elected as s/he is no longer Nigerian. I do not know whether the Person at (2)  has the Right to vote and/or be voted for. The only reasonable Reading of s.137(1)(a) in Association with s.28(1) is Emphasis that the Person at (3); the dual Citizen Nigerian is proscribed from competing to be the President of Nigeria. The Expression “subject to” in s.137(1)(a) relying on s.28(1) substitutes for ‘in view of'. Except for 'mutual Reiteration’©, ss.28(1) and 137(1)(a) have no useful Connection. S.137(1)(a), per se, is self-sufficient. To those of us who have proven ourselves intellectually sound, after all a Research Degree is no minor Feat unless One did not formulate One’s Proposal but undertook the University’s and/or One’s Supervisor wrote One’s Dissertation for One, s.28(1) boosts s.137(1)(a). The same Condition is imposed for “NASS” Members in s.66(1)(a), State Assembly Members in s.107(1)(a), and Governors in s.182(1)(a). Depending on how long Bola Ahmed Tinubu (BAT) has been a dual Citizen Nigerian, he might have been infringing the Nigerian Constitution since he contested and occupied the Office of Senator of the Nigerian Republic. Ergo, as I concluded that s.137(1)(a) can be independent of s.28(1), save for the Benefit of Recapitulation, it is superfluous to mention s.28(1) in referring Anyone to s.137. Besides, the broader s.28 is already mentioned in s.137(1)(a)). Absent any Enhancement of the Law, directing s.137(1)(a) to s.28(1) is, ordinarily, symptomatic of a Situation where Ideas are not original to those presenting them but had been lifted from somewhere without the Lifters actually grasping the Context. It is the typical Nigerian Disposition of “I too know”; the ‘Arrogance of Ignorance'. It is in the same Tradition of calling a Passport “international Passport.” For goodness Sake, is there a ‘domestic Passport’? Nauseating, believe me. By Customs and Practice, and indeed by Law, the ‘Passport’ is an “international” Document. There is no Sense in prefacing it with “international.” It is like asking someone to bring you ‘the Girl, the Female’ or ‘the Boy, the Male’.

 

It is arrogant of Anyone to presume that an academic Philosopher – which I am and who sat his viva voce once and resubmitted once for very minor Omissions and whose Work in Political Studies is published by his University and who also has a good Honours Degree in the Social Sciences generally plus other postgraduate Qualifications with Applause in Crime Studies – would not have triangulated Pieces of Information I come across. Perhaps, s.131 might assist our ‘naked Emperors’© on the Question of the constitutional Competence for seeking Nigeria’s Presidency. Here is the appropriate Provision: “A person shall be qualified for election to the office of the President if - (a) he is a citizen of Nigeria by birth ... ” Note that this Clause does not say either ‘citizen of Nigeria by birth and who is a dual Citizen’ or ‘citizen of Nigeria by birth and who might also be of dual Citizenship’. A dual Citizen Nigerian is not a full Nigerian irrespective of being born Nigerian. The Loyalty of that Person is legally and philosophically divided even if s/he has a warped Notion in the Head of what being a dual Citizen is. For Goodness Sake; what is the basic Meaning of ‘dual’? It is from the Latin Language “duo” and it denotes two. So, what is the essential Reality of ‘dual Citizenship'? It tells of a Person with competing Citizenships. Stop fooling around; multiple Citizenships are not mutual unless the Countries involved have ‘Affiliation Pacts’©. Even then, no Country is that backward to allow a dual Citizen, natural born or not, to be its Executive Head of State. It is the World we live in. The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 is well aware of the Principle of Citizenship and its Stewardship. This would explain the reverberating s.28(1). Ss.28(1) and 137(1)(a) – and ss.66(1)(a), 107(1)(a), and  182(1)(a) – are so clearly written in user-friendly English Language that only the ‘pseudo-educated’© or the ‘morally-defunct’© or the ‘compromised Judiciary'© would misapprehend it. S.131, i.e., elucidates those electoral Provisos.

 

What is Citizenship?

 

Normatively, a Constitution recognizes the Principle of Citizenship involving a) Responsibilities of Citizenship, b) Expectations of Citizenship, c) Duty of Citizenship and d) primary Custodianship of a Country’s Citizenship. There is no other foremost Guardian of a Country’s Citizenship than the Country’s Number One Citizen; the elected Executive President or the elected Executive Prime Minister. The principal Principle of Citizenship is Loyalty to the Citizenship. See my https://ipemndohdaniyan.blogspot.com/2021/07/nnamdi-kanu-sunday-adeyemo-igboho.html?m=1. If the Nigerian Judiciary is educated enough about this main Principle of Citizenship, its Members would be respectful of the Intention and/or Meaning of s.137(1)(a) (and of ss.66(1)(a), 107(1)(a), and 182(1)(a)). However, Nigeria’s Judiciary is such a Joke cognitively – I am not even talking intellectually – that not even the current President, Muhammadu Buhari, who should be its most ardent Supporter, holds it in Regard. Ditto the Governor of the Country’s Central Bank, Godwin Emefiele. For what Reason would a President disobey the Judiciary of the Country s/he leads and allow Others to behave similarly if not for the Reality that the Judges do as they are told whether by Coercion or Persuasion? For how long the Country’s Legal System has been in Doldrums I do not know therefore I cannot say if previous Presidents are equally culpable as Buhari. Buhari is the one I have paid close Attention to, and on his Watch if there is a Banana Republic to behold, Nigeria it is. Bola Ahmed Tinubu did not submit any bona fide educational Qualification to satisfy s.131(d) yet a High Court Judge in Abuja approved his tendered Transcripts with no Authentication from the University allegedly attended despite the Transcripts warning clearly that the University must sign Transcripts for them to have Validity. How can that Judge convince any reasonable Person that s/he is not untrustworthy whether by Choice (avaricious) or Intimidation (neutered)? This Judge should be held in Contempt of the Nigerian Constitution of 1999. All any Idiot needs to do is go Online to recognize that even the Chicago State University Degree (superior to Transcripts), as with many other Universities, can be obtained unlawfully not to talk of Transcripts. This is why Universities demand that their Documents for Presentation to third Parties must be substantiated by them. Without fulfilling the educational Requirement of s.131(d) in the first Instance, Bola Ahmed Tinubu should never have been allowed to stand for the Presidency of Nigeria but Mahmood Yakubu, the unscrupulous Chair of INEC, with unabated Disdain for the Constitution of Nigeria 1999 facilitated Tinubu's Run. Now, there is Talk that the ‘Bat’ did not even declare his dual Citizenship on INEC Forms. If this is true, I bet another ungodly Judge would care naught about it because most of them, if not all, are in the Bat's Pockets. Yes, it is really “Politics of the Belly” – see my http://ipemndohdaniyan.blogspot.com/2023/04/thank-you-daddy-yes-sir-thank-you-daddy.html – that a Person with unabashed Propensity for Criminality becomes the President of the self-deceiving “Giant of Africa.” He has a non-custodial criminal Conviction connected to Drug trafficking. While Nigeria has a ‘spent Conviction’ Regime (s.137(1)(e)), the United States of America (US(A)) which convicted this Man does not. Nor does any State in the Union as far as I know. Tinubu's Drug Money Forfeiture was to the US Government not to the State of Illinois. Bola Ahmed Tinubu was convicted of a federal Offence/Offense. I am sure that the next Aggendum of the Bat is to have his Conviction pardoned by the US President (or by Approval of the US President). Unfortunately for the Nigerian Peoples, they appear cursed with a clueless “fourth estate”, the Media. How could Nigeria’s Journalists be enthusiastic about the Bat as President-Elect and then President against the background of his manifest Ineligibility to even compete for the Office? Are Nigeria’s Media Persons more immoral than unsavvy?

 

Summary

 

Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Bat, did not satisfy ss.131(d),137(1)(a). He blatantly presented to the Courts and INEC, Transcripts, prima facie, forged to claim Qualification to run for President. He is an “international” criminal Convict. He was, ergo, legally incompetent to run for the Presidency of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Mahmood Yakubu, the dishonest Chair of INEC manipulated not just the Results of the presidential Election of 2023 but also the Process to unload Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the President-Elect. With the Support of apparently dimwitted Journalists, Tinubu’s unlawful Win would be made lawful by probably the most dishonourable legal System in the World. What next awaits ‘the People’ of Nigeria in their self-destroying Penchant for accepting Oppression, enabling Corruption, tolerating undeserved Authority and allowing the Theft of Public Funds? Some Foods for thought.

 

Ipemndoh dan Iyan PhM©

AsimauGlobalMedia© 

All Rights 2023

18-25 April