Federal Executive Council has granted Nigerian citizenship to 335 foreigners and rejected 165 applications.

Minister of Interior, retired General Abudulrahman Dambazau, said this briefing with Minister of Water Resources Suleiman Adamu and the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President, Femi Adesina, at the end of the FEC meeting.

The meeting, held in the presidential Villa, Abuja, was presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Dambazau explained that the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Nigerian citizenship received 500 applications and recommended 335 of the applicants for approval.

He explained that 245 of the 335 successful applicants were born by naturalised Nigerians while the remaining 90 persons were foreigners married to Nigerians, popularly referred to as ‘Naija Wives’.

The minister said all the successful applicants had complied with the requirements of sections 26 and 27 of the Nigerian constitution.

The Federal Government in 2013 granted Nigerian citizenship to 174 foreigners while 27 persons were rejected.