Can I change my state of origin?

Dear Pedestrian Lawyer I've lived in Lagos for over 30 years though my father is from Kano. Can I claim to be from Lagos in forms which ask about my 'state of origin'? Can I run for state positions? I pay hefty taxes to Lagos - at what point will I be officially recognised as a Lagosian? And my children - what happens to them?

This is a dilemma which must apply to millions of Nigerians who have set up home all over the country; unfortunately, it is a question for which there is no simple answer, a problem for which there is no clear solution. The instinctive answer of most of the lawyers polled on this issue was ‘no, you cannot claim to be from Lagos State’; but there were no clear explanations why.

For sticky legal issues with no clear applicable law such as ‘state of origin act’ in this case, sometimes the best place to start is the foundation of our laws – the Nigerian Constitution. However as I unsuccessfully combed through the Constitution for direction, it occurred to me that it might help if the crux of the issue was identified: why is ‘state of origin’ in Nigeria important? Part of the answer is embedded in the reader’s question.

I had always half heartedly wondered why official forms in Nigeria always asked about the state of origin and assumed it was for statistical data i.e., for the National Planning Commission to be able to say ‘x number of females from this state are lawyers and as such we should have x number of law schools in this area…’or something along those lines. Now I realize that it is important because it determines my platform for elections into public office, it can affect my political appointment (suddenly the intrigues over Mrs. Okonjo Iweala’s state of origin around the time of her appointment as Minister of Finance become clearer) and it can even affect my rights to acquire state or federal government assets. This last one needs a little explaining.
The general belief amongst Nigerian policy and decision makers is that, Nigerians are still so ‘un-evolved’ that when the President of Nigeria is from a certain ethnic group, only that ethnic group has access and opportunities to, amongst other things, buy government property. To counter this measure, the sale of privatized public property is usually conditional on public acquisition being shared across the states. For example in the sale of NITEL, Government might retain 40% of the shares and eventually invite members of the general public to buy 20% - this 20% would be allotted based on federal character.

It starts becoming a little clearer why state of origin is important and why some people might want to be from one state or the other. It also becomes clear why the mayhem in Plateau State started and why the problem there could be the problem in many other states. Simply, for example, if the Awasuah have lived as a community within a state for decades they have a right to self representation and a native of that state should not be arbitrarily imposed on them.
As usual our laws are conveniently silent on the issue. Nowhere in the Nigerian Constitution can you find any express or implied law on ‘state citizenship’, not even when it provides for the election of Governors, Senators or state house of assembly members. In Section 65 of the Constitution the requirements for election into the Senate are: the person must be a citizen of Nigeria (clearly defined in Sections 25 through 26); must be 35 years old; must have graduated from Secondary School and must be a sponsored member of a political party. In the United States Constitution, Article 1 Section 3 states that the eligibility requirements for a Senator are that the person must be at least 30 years old, must have been a US citizen for at least 9 years and must be at the time of the election, an ‘inhabitant’ of the state they seek to represent. Bingo – the US Constitution (which is not obsessed with federal character by the way) recognizes that the State you seek to represent is important. However in a country where every cabinet, every federal agency, every committee is carefully scrutinized for ethnic representation because we do not trust each other, our Constitution is silent on the role and definition of the state you originate from or reside in.

The current PDP party constitution does not resolve this issue but it casts a sliver of illumination onto the issue by allowing members to register either at their wards of ‘origin’ or where they reside. While there is still no definition on ward or state of origin, we can use the definition of residence which works for tax purposes i.e. residence is established by staying a total of 183 days (or 6 months) in a year in any place. Unfortunately, what this mean is that you can be deemed resident in two states if you spend half the year in one place and the rest in another – so we still come back to the question ‘what defines your state of origin’?

Without guidance from the Constitution, the current situation regarding state of origin is that there is no law and the application of any form of regulation is fluid and discretionary with different rules for different states and different edicts for different situations. In Lagos State, according to a senior advisor to the Governor on legal issues, the practice is to regard as indigenes those whose parents were Lagosians and this includes those who are historically of Lagos origin as well as early migrants. Apparently, today those who are born in Lagos or one of whose parents was born in Lagos can get a letter from the local Oba or local government council declaring them Lagosians.

A word of advice: if you currently live in a State other than where your parents are from, start making friends with your local oba, emir, chief or local government council chairman…you just might need their support in determining your state of origin.

Published January 13 2009