Between 2017 and 2023, the Federal Government granted Nigerian citizenship to at least 1,006 foreign nationals, according to findings by Sunday PUNCH.
While public investiture ceremonies—organised by the Ministry of Interior and supervised by the Presidency—are the primary occasions when new citizens receive their certificates, records indicate that others gained citizenship through routine administrative processes.
The first such ceremony took place on May 17, 2017, at the State House Banquet Hall in Abuja. There, then-President Muhammadu Buhari presented certificates to 335 recipients, including Ethiopian-born model Lara Fortes, who had married former Edo State governor Adams Oshiomhole two years earlier.
The then Minister of Interior, Lt-Gen Abdulrahman Dambazau (retd.), explained that 245 of the recipients qualified through naturalisation—having lived in Nigeria lawfully for at least 15 years—while 90 gained citizenship by registration as spouses or children of Nigerian citizens. Dambazau stressed that all applicants had undergone thorough security screening and approval by the Federal Executive Council (FEC).
Following a five-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic and administrative delays, the second investiture was held on September 15, 2022.
At that event, President Buhari conferred citizenship on 286 foreign nationals, including 86 Lebanese, 14 Britons, and four Americans. Of these, 208 had met the 15-year residency requirement for naturalisation, while 78 qualified through familial ties.
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The most recent ceremony occurred on May 27, 2023, just two days before Buhari left office. Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, representing the President, presided over the event at the Nigeria Correctional Service headquarters, where 385 individuals received their certificates.
Then-Interior Minister Rauf Aregbesola noted that the 2022 and 2023 ceremonies alone accounted for 671 new citizens—the highest number conferred under any Nigerian administration.
Under Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution (as amended) and the Citizenship Act, the President may grant citizenship by naturalisation or registration upon the advice of the FEC.
Naturalisation requires at least 15 years of lawful residence—10 of them continuous immediately before applying—along with proof of good character, tax compliance, and a clean security record. Citizenship by registration is available to foreign spouses married to Nigerians for at least 15 years, or to children of Nigerian parents born abroad.
Applicants begin the process by submitting forms and documentation to the Ministry of Interior’s Citizenship Division, which verifies identity, residency, and character references.
The Department of State Services (DSS) then conducts background checks, while tax and criminal records are reviewed by relevant agencies.
Approved applications are forwarded to the FEC, and with presidential assent, recipients are invited to a public ceremony where they take the Oath of Allegiance, receive their citizenship certificates, and become eligible for Nigerian passports and associated rights.
Since Bola Tinubu assumed office in May 2023, no public investitures have been held. However, Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo confirmed that several approved applicants are currently undergoing DSS background checks.
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