The Presidency has clarified that the agreement reached between President Bola Tinubu and the United Kingdom is to deport Nigerians with no legal status.
Under the agreement, the deportees would comprise failed asylum seekers, criminals, and visa overstayers.
However, it was unclear if the deportees would only be Nigerians.
In a statement on Friday, Temitope Ajayi, senior special assistant to the president on media and publicity, noted that the deal only relates to Nigerians who do not possess legal status to reside 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,” Ajayi said.
He said the clarification was necessary to curb misinformation.
“The agreement guarantees that returnees who are citizens of Nigeria will be treated with dignity, rights retention under domestic law, and may re-enter in the future if they meet the applicable immigration requirements,” Ajayi added.
Alao Babatunde, Special Adviser on Media to Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, Minister of Interior, also confirmed the specificity of the deal to TheCable.
Babatunde said the agreement would only cover Nigerians, excluding foreign nationals.
Under the agreement, the Nigerian government will, for the first time, accept UK-issued letters, an alternative identification certificate issued to individuals without valid passports, to facilitate their return.
Nigeria had previously used emergency travel documents as supplementary IDs for undocumented citizen travellers.
A separate statement from the ministry of interior noted that the deportation arrangements would be on a case-by-case identity verification.
The ministry noted that the 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.
Tunji-Ojo said for Nigeria to sustain the relationship, “we must remember: ‘He who comes to equity must come with clean hands’,” urging fairness and transparency.
