THE presidency has said that Nigeria is not required to accept foreign nationals following misconceptions on the new immigration agreement reached during President Bola Tinubu’s state visit to the United Kingdom.
In a statement sent to News Point Nigeria on Saturday, presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, debunked what he describes as “the raft of misinformation” about the agreement, including the claim that irregular migrants in the UK from other countries could be deported to Nigeria.
“Nowhere in the 12-page memorandum is Nigeria required to accept foreign nationals other than Nigerians,” the presidential spokesman said.
According to Onanuga, the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on immigration cooperation “aimed to strengthen the partnership between Nigeria and the United Kingdom.”
Tinubu’s media aide stated that the MoU signed by Nigeria’s Minister of Interior and the UK Secretary of State for the Home Department, establishes a framework “to facilitate a regulated and safe migration flow between the two countries and to encourage further bilateral cooperation in the fight against irregular migration and associated acts by citizens of each country, in accordance with their respective immigration and citizenship laws and extant international treaties, conventions, protocols, agreements, and charters.”
He stressed that under the agreement, “Nationals to be repatriated must have undergone multiple levels of identification and verification, and, where errors occur, they are returned to the requesting country at the requesting country’s cost.”
UK, Onanuga maintained, will ensure “the dignified return of their nationals who do not, or no longer, have the right to enter or remain in the territory of the other country,” and stressed that the returnees will be treated with “dignity and respect, with due regard to their human rights and fundamental freedoms.”
The presidential spokesman also outlined key provisions of the MoU, including that migrants returning to their home country “must carry their legally acquired personal belongings,” and that “every returnee will be given ample opportunity to make adequate arrangements for the transfer or disposal of his property in the territory of the requesting party, under the supervision of the mission of the requested party.”
According to him, Article 9 of the MoU sets out the conditions for the migrant’s return.
“Before departure, identification checks will be carried out by the officers of the requested party in the territory of the requesting party and on arrival by the competent authorities of the requested party. The requesting party will coordinate all returns with the officers of the requested party.
“A return may be conducted by means of a scheduled aircraft or an aircraft chartered specifically for this purpose by the authorities of the parties; the requesting party will provide the flight details and particulars of each returnee five (5) working days before the date of return.
“A return will be conducted using an original, valid passport, or, if the requesting party can biometrically match a returnee to a visa application made in the territory of the requested party, then an expedited process will be permissible, via which the requesting party will facilitate the return or repatriation using a UK Letter (UKL).
“If a returnee cannot be biometrically matched to a visa application by the requesting party, but there is otherwise strong evidence to confirm nationality, including a copy of a passport, a passport number or a national identity card, then an expedited process will again be permissible via which the requesting party will facilitate return or repatriation using a UK Letter (UKL).
“Should the requested party not be satisfied with a returnee’s identity within five (5) working days of submission of the UK Letter (UKL) to Nigerian authorities, detailed reasons should be presented to the requesting party why the identity cannot be satisfied. In these circumstances, removal will be deferred.
“If subsequent evidence shows that a returnee who has been returned is not a national of the requested party, the requesting party will take the person back to its territory at the requesting party’s cost and by the most efficient means possible. The request for the return of the person referred to in Article X will be made within ten (10) working days following the return exercise and carried out within fourteen (14) working days after acceptance of the request.”
Article 9, subsection 3, shows that Nigeria has not ceded to the UK the right to document the repatriated person.
The section says: It shall be the sole responsibility of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) to issue and handle, as is necessary under Nigerian domestic legislation, any Nigerian documentation (including the digital acknowledgement of receipt of a UK Letter) ahead of the notified date of return as stated in the UK Letter. This shall be distinct from the UK Letter process and remains the sole right and responsibility of Nigerian authorities, including the handling of the travel document and any onward transmission required from the issuing office to enable entry.
Onanuga’s remarks come a day after another presidential aide, Temitope Ajayi, said the agreement with the UK government relates only to Nigerians who do not have legal status to live and remain in the UK.
It explained that the Nigerian government was not accepting foreigners, as the UK was not compelling Nigeria to take those who are not its citizens.
“For clarity, it is important to state that the agreement signed by the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, during the state visit of President Bola Tinubu on behalf of the government of Nigeria, and Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, on behalf of the UK government, only relates to Nigerians who do not have legal status to live and remain in the UK.
“Nigerian government is not taking back non-Nigerians. The UK government is not compelling Nigeria to take those who are not our citizens. This clarification becomes necessary because of those who have already revved up their misinformation machinery,” a statement signed by a presidential aide, Temitope Ajayi, partly read.
It further noted that the agreement guarantees that returnees who are citizens of Nigeria would be treated with dignity, rights retention under domestic law, and may re-enter in the future if they meet the applicable immigration requirements.
Quoting a social media post by the Ministry of Interior, the statement added, “It also provides detailed arrangements for the dignified return and reintegration of NIGERIANS who do not have the legal right to remain in the UK.
“This arrangement includes: the use of secured travel documentation, case-by-case identity verification, and safeguards for vulnerable individuals and potential victims of trafficking.
“This framework also sets out clear definitions, scope, and areas of cooperation, including information sharing, capacity building, training, and joint research on migration management and border security.”