Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has sharply criticised UK Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch for her recent comments on Nigerian citizenship, describing them as “a display of utter ignorance” of the country’s constitutional provisions.
Badenoch, in a recent interview, claimed she could not confer Nigerian citizenship on her children “because I’m a woman” and further described acquiring Nigerian citizenship as “virtually impossible.”
Reacting on Monday, Falana dismissed her assertions as legally inaccurate. Citing Section 25(b) and (c) of the Nigerian Constitution, he explained that Badenoch’s children are Nigerians by birth, regardless of their birthplace or their mother’s gender.
“Contrary to Kemi Badenoch’s misleading claim, her children are Nigerians because she is a Nigerian,” Falana said. “Her assertion that she cannot give Nigerian citizenship to her children because she is a woman is not in consonance with the Nigerian Constitution.”
He further referenced Section 42(2), which guarantees equal rights to all Nigerian citizens irrespective of gender, birth circumstances, or social class. “No citizen of Nigeria shall be subjected to any disability or deprivation merely by reason of the circumstances of his birth, gender, political opinion or class,” he added.
Falana also addressed the issue of dual citizenship, stating that Badenoch’s children are both Nigerian and British citizens by virtue of their mother’s nationality. “It is up to the children to renounce their Nigerian citizenship upon the attainment of full age in accordance with Section 29 of the Constitution,” he noted.
Responding to Badenoch’s claim that acquiring Nigerian citizenship is “virtually impossible,” Falana pointed to Sections 26 and 27 of the Constitution, which provide clear legal pathways for foreigners to obtain citizenship through registration or naturalisation upon meeting defined criteria.
While acknowledging gaps in the law — particularly the gender-based disparity in spousal citizenship rights — Falana clarified that reform is needed to correct the imbalance. “A woman who is married to a Nigerian man is qualified for registration as a citizen. But the same right is not accorded to a man married to a Nigerian woman because of the patriarchal nature of the society,” he said.
He accused Badenoch of pandering to the British electorate at the expense of truth and Nigeria’s image, cautioning that such misleading statements unfairly malign her country of origin.
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