UK-Nigeria deportation agreement cannot be legally enforced - Falana

Human rights lawyer Femi Falana has heavily criticized the recently signed Migration Partnership Agreement between Nigeria and the United Kingdom, asserting that it cannot be legally enforced.

The agreement, announced during President Bola Tinubu’s state visit to the UK last week, is designed to expedite the deportation of Nigerians lacking legal residency rights, including foreign criminals and failed asylum seekers.

The arrangement introduces the use of UK letters instead of standard passports to streamline the identification process and offers reintegration support for deportees.

However, Falana argued that utilizing these letters violates international human rights standards by lowering the deportation threshold and bypassing proper nationality verification, which increases the risk of arbitrary and wrongful removals.

Falana further noted that the agreement contradicts the 1999 Nigerian Constitution (as amended) regarding the right to a fair hearing, as it limits the ability of affected individuals to challenge their deportation.

The pact also conflicts with Nigeria’s commitments under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Falana highlighted that UK courts, in cases such as ZH (Tanzania) v Secretary of State for the Home Department and Huang v Secretary of State for the Home Department, have emphasized the necessity of balancing deportation actions with the right to family life.

Domestically, the agreement could face legal nullification because the Criminal Code Act and the Nigerian Correctional Service Act mandate a judge's warrant for any individual to be admitted into a Nigerian correctional facility, making it illegal to transfer UK-convicted persons to serve their sentences in Nigerian prisons.

Falana concluded that the treaty remains unenforceable until domesticated by the National Assembly, as required by Section 12(1) of the Nigerian Constitution.