".......the citizenship by birth granted to Kemi under the 1960 and 1963 constitutions was nullified by section 26 (1) and (3) of the 1979 constitution- "Avoidance of dual citizenship". Recall that under both provisions of subsections 1 years and 3, and more particularly subsection 1 ( ..."a person shall forfeit forthwith his Nigerian citizenship if he acquires or retains the citizenship or nationality of a country other than Nigeria"), the constitution abrogated the right to dual citizenship. So as at 1 October 1979 when the constitution came into effect, Kemi was effectively no longer a citizen of Nigeria, nor was she a citizen when she turned 21 in 1988. Further, by the combined effect of Section 26 (1) and (3), Kemi was not a citizen of Nigeria when she graduated at 22 in 1989 and only became a citizen again in 1999 when her Nigerian citizenship was restored by section 28 of the 1999 constitution. Between the interregnum of 1 October 1979 and 29 May 1999, she was not a citizen, so she wasn't expected to offer herself for call up when she graduated at 22 in 1989 or offer herself for service in 1999 when she was already 32 years old- two years above the limiting age were she a Nigerian citizen by birth.
Some may argue that when the military promulgated The Constitution ( Suspension and Modification) Decree No 1, 1984, the 1979 Constitution was effectively suspended by the military decree. This is an erroneous argument. Decree No 1 of 1984 only suspended and modified parts of the 1979 Constitution, and not the entire Constitution. Chapter 3 which dealt with citizenship and Chapter 4 which dealt with Fundamental Rights were NEVER suspended or modified by Decree No 1, 1984. What this means in effect is that Section 26, which dealt with "avoidance of dual citizenship" was never touched by the decree. And if I recall correctly, our court in the case of the Military Governor of Ondo State v Victor Adegoke Adewunmi ( I will look for the citation later as I am typing extempore) addressed the effect of military decrees and edicts on the unsuspended parts of the 1979 constitution and held that the unsuspended parts had effective operations as if the 1979 constitution was not suspended in the first place. The point I am making here is that during the military interregnum - 1984 to 1999- Kemi was not a citizen of Nigeria by virtue of the unsuspended provisions of section 26 of the 1979 Constitution, so she was not constitutionally entitled to offer herself for service or be called up for service under the NYSC Act. In effect, she was a foreigner!
The purpose of this update is to open a new perspective into the Kemi NYSC imbroglio, while hoping that lawyers on my contact can engage this serious constitutional issue. My hope is that Kemi can approach the court for interpretation of the effect of section 26 of the 1979 constitution on her status as a citizen and her duty to serve under the NYSC Act.
My thoughts!"
(Extracted from Ayo Turton's wall)
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