Nigeria: National Basics (2)
Stephanie OrjiThere are other documents of national essentiality in Nigeria, such as – Voter’s card, Nigerian passport, Certificate of Indigeneship or Certificate of Origin. They are widely used as well, but they are not as basic as the other 4 listed in part 1 of this article1 and they pertain to Nigerians, whereas the other 4 pertained to citizens and non-citizens.
v. Voter’s card
This card is required for voting in National, State and Local government elections in Nigeria. It is not defined in the Interpretation Section (152) of the Electoral Act.
Section 16 of the Electoral Act 2022 provides –
“16.—(1) The Commission shall design, cause to be printed and control the issuance of voters’ cards to voters whose names appear in the register.
(2) No voter shall hold more than one valid voters’ card.
(3) Any person who contravenes subsection (2) commits an offence and is liable on conviction, to a fine not more than N500,000 or imprisonment for a term not more than one year or both.
(4) The Commission may, whenever it considers it necessary, replace all or any voters’ cards for the time being held by voters.”
By the provisions of Section 21 of the Act, your Voter’s card belongs to Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)2
While Regulation 5 of Regulations and Guidelines for the Conduct of Elections, 20223 provides –
“5. A person is eligible to vote at an election conducted by the Commission if:
(i) He/she is a Nigerian Citizen.
(ii) He/she is a registered as a voter.
(iii) His/her name appears in the Register of Voters.
(iv) He/she presents a valid Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC) at his/her Polling Unit.”
vi. Nigerian passport
Section 116 of the Immigration Act 2015, states –
“passport” means with reference to the person producing it a travel document furnished with a photograph of such person and issued to him by or on behalf of the country of which he is a subject or a citizen and for a period which according to the laws of that country has not expired and includes any other similar document approved by the government establishing the nationality and identity of the person to whom it refers to the satisfaction of an immigration officer ;”
Part II of the Act, Sections 9 to 13 has to do with Passport and Passport offences.
Section 9(2) of the Act, states –
“(2) Nigerian Passports shall be issued only to bona fide Nigerians, within and outside Nigeria”
It appears Section 9(5) of the Act, states the different types of Nigerian Passports, it provides –
“(5) In this section, “passport” means a document of protection and authority to travel issued by the Nigeria Immigration Service to Nigerians wishing to travel outside Nigeria, and includes, as defined in section 10 (3) and (4) of this act, the following-
(a) a Standard Nigerian Passport ;
(b) a Nigerian Diplomatic Passport ;
(c) a Nigerian Official Passport ;
(d) a Nigerian Pilgrim’s Passport ; and
(e) a Seaman’s Passport or Seaman’s Certificate of Identity. ”4
vii. Certificate of Indigeneship or Certificate of Origin
This is usually utilized for official applications and processes such as school admission, job application, application for official documents, etc, in Government institutions and establishments. This document is usually issued by the Local Governments. The statutory basis for the document may be from Local government Laws.
There are other national essentials such as National Drivers Licence (necessary for driving in Nigeria), but lets leave it here.
Thank you.
Stephanie Orji lawyers at Heptagon & Associates, a full service law firm in Abuja, Nigeria.
22-July-2024.
- https://progender.org/nigeria-national-basics/ ↩︎
- “21. The proprietary rights in any voters’ card issued to any voter shall vest in the Commission.” ↩︎
- https://www.inecnigeria.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/REGULATIONS-AND-GUIDELINES-FOR-THE-CONDUCT-OF-ELECTIONS-2022_updtd.pdf , accessed on 21/07/2024. ↩︎
- See also Immigration Regulations, 2017, Regulation 79 in the definition of Passport, same types of passport are listed. ↩︎