Chrys
The media office of Obafemi Hamzat has described the claim
that the Lagos deputy governor renounced his Nigerian citizenship as
“misleading and inaccurate”.
During the Lagos governorship election petition tribunal
proceeding on Thursday, Olubusayo Fasidi, an immigration lawyer in the United
States, claimed that Hamzat took an oath of allegiance in the US to renounce
his Nigerian citizenship.
But in a statement on Saturday, Hamzat’s media office said
the reports circulating are not the true reflections of the proceedings that
took place at the tribunal.
The media office said the witness tendered two documents
— a blank form of application for US
naturalisation and a blank oath of US allegiance document — tagged forms
8CFR/337 and N400 respectively which were admitted and marked as exhibits.
“When the witness was
confronted with the fact that the only two documents, she was basing her claims
on, were merely downloaded blank documents, the witness stated that she had
downloaded the blank documents from the official website of the US Embassy,” the
statement reads.
“The witness was thus unable to produce the actual
documents, the specific jurisdiction of the United States and the particular
date when Dr Hamzat applied for naturalisation or took the purported oath of
allegiance.
“She equally admitted that she had not attended the ceremony
admitting Dr Hamzat as a citizen of the United States of America.
“During her
cross-examination by counsel to the 4th respondent (APC), the witness admitted
to the fact that the American constitution recognizes dual citizenship with
particular reference to the 14th amendment to the constitution of the United
States ratified on July 9, 1868.
“The witness was challenged further that the documents she
tendered support the process of application for naturalisation which ultimately
culminates in the issuance of an American passport and nothing more.
“The witness in reaction to additional questions confirmed
that she did not need to obtain a Nigerian visiting visa because she entered
the country with her Nigerian passport.
“With respect to the question whether the witness was aware
that Dr Hamzat fully disclosed the details of his American citizenship in the
Form EC9 submitted to INEC, the witness answered in the affirmative.
“When the witness was
again asked whether she had ever sighted the oath of allegiance of US
citizenship form of the 3rd respondent, the witness responded in the
affirmative.
“Following from the above, there is nowhere in the
verifiable record of proceedings of the Lagos state governorship election
petition tribunal of 21st of June 2023, when the evidence of one Miss Olubusayo
Fasidi, a US immigration lawyer, was taken to support the misleading online
reports that the incumbent deputy governor of Lagos state has renounced his
Nigerian citizenship.”
Hamzat’s media office advised the public to disregard “the
deliberate falsehood”, saying the testimony of the witness is under serious
challenge.
“The testimony of the witness in question is under serious
challenge and in its final judgment, the tribunal will decide whether her
testimony is admissible, given that she did not file a witness statement on
oath and the self-contradiction of still using a Nigerian passport whilst
claiming to have renounced Nigerian citizenship,” the statement added.
