A Federal Excessive Courtroom in Ibadan has adjourned till Feb. 24 the listening to on a authorized problem towards the Nigeria Immigration Service’s (NIS) coverage requiring wives to acquire their husband’s consent earlier than renewing their passports.
The swimsuit additionally contests NIS’s follow mandating that youngsters underneath 18 should safe their father’s approval earlier than passport renewal, based on Information Company of Nigeria(NAN).
Justice Nkeonye Maha adjourned the case after the applicant’s counsel, Mr. Oguaba, knowledgeable the courtroom that listening to notices had been served on respondents twice, first in Could and later in October 2025.
Oguaba argued that the proceedings might proceed with out NIS’s presence, citing sections of the regulation, because the company had been duly notified however opted to not seem.
Regardless of this, Justice Maha dominated that contemporary listening to notices should be served to the respondents, prompting the adjournment. Alongside NIS, the Legal professional-Common of the Federation (AGF) can be named as a respondent within the matter.
The applicant, Mrs. Chibuzo Oguaba, via her husband and authorized counsel, argued that the coverage violates Part 42 of the 1999 Structure (as amended), which prohibits discrimination based mostly on intercourse, circumstances of beginning, and different grounds.
“The applicant sought to resume her passport and people of her youngsters. On the immigration workplace in Ibadan, the passport controller insisted she acquire her husband’s consent regardless of presenting all different required paperwork. The kids had been equally requested to get their father’s consent. We think about this discriminatory,” Oguaba instructed the courtroom.
Recall that in October 2024, Nairametrics reported on an identical controversy involving the Nationwide Drug Legislation Enforcement Company (NDLEA), which launched a requirement for married ladies in search of visas to current a letter of approval from their husbands.
The stipulation, a part of the NDLEA’s up to date visa necessities, sparked widespread debate over gender equality and particular person autonomy. Critics highlighted that such guidelines, together with the necessity for passport pictures, mirror outdated views on ladies’s rights and independence, doubtlessly proscribing their freedom to journey.
The case has drawn consideration to gender-based restrictions inside Nigeria’s passport issuance processes, sparking debate on the stability between administrative procedures and constitutional rights.
This observe that if the courtroom guidelines in favour of the applicant, it might set a precedent difficult discriminatory practices towards ladies and minors in accessing important authorities providers.
The listening to will resume on Feb. 24, 2026, when the courtroom is anticipated to contemplate submissions from each side and decide whether or not the present NIS coverage aligns with constitutional protections towards discrimination.