The Federal Government (FG) has granted Nigerian citizenship to 286 foreign nationals out of the 600 applications received.
The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, on Wednesday, said that the applications were approved at the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, which was presided over by the President, Muhammadu Buhari.
Aregbesola revealed that 208 of those approved were granted citizenship by naturalisation while 78 others were granted citizenship by registration.
The applicants from every part of the world including Europeans, Americans, North and South Australians, etc. were thoroughly scrutinized by agencies such as the department of states services, foreign affairs, Nigeria’s immigration service, and the state of domicile of the foreign individuals.
Groundbreaking
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed described the approval of the memo on citizenship as “groundbreaking”, adding that it came at the time some Nigerians are saying the country is unfit to live in.
Mohammed added that many foreigners around the world apply daily for Nigerian citizenship.
“It’s a groundbreaking memo as it will tell you because just as some people think Nigeria is not a fit and proper place to live,” the minister said.
“We have thousands of people who are applying daily all over the world from virtually every continent to be citizens of Nigeria. I think that is very instructive.”
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