The ministry of interior has said that 309 Nigerians have renounced their citizenship in the last 16 years.
The permanent secretary in the ministry, Mr. Shuaib Belgore, disclosed this while addressing journalists at the State House in Abuja yesterday.
He stated that more than half of the number relinquished their citizenship in 2022.
“Down to those Nigerians who renounce their citizenship, so far we have registered a total of 309,” he said adding between 2006 and 2021, 150 Nigerians renounced their citizenship while 159 renounced in 2022 alone.
He did not state the reasons why the Nigerians renounced their citizenship.
However, he said while scores of people were renouncing their Nigerian citizenship, many others naturalised in Nigeria.
According to him, 286 people took up Nigerian citizenship in 2022.
He added that the advisory committee on Nigerian citizenship will sit February 7 to consider another 350 applications for naturalisation.
Premium Times reported that the minister of interior, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, who lamented the mass migration of Nigerians.
He said Nigeria issued 1,899,683 passports to citizens in 2022, the highest in seven years.
He attributed the increase to massive exodus of Nigerians in search of greener pastures.
The minister said the mass migration was having a huge impact on the functions of his ministry which issues passports through the immigration service.
“It has a huge impact because there is a heavy demand on passport issuance. And if you look at the trend it is more in the South than in the North and we are responding to it,” he said.
