By Dayo Ade Olusola | July 21, 2025
Prominent Nigerian human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, has criticised UK Conservative Party leader and Minister for Business and Trade, Kemi Badenoch, over her claim that she cannot pass Nigerian citizenship to her children because she is a woman
In an interview aired Sunday on CNN’s Fareed Zakaria GPS, Badenoch asserted that Nigerian citizenship laws are restrictive, particularly for women. She claimed, “I have that citizenship by virtue of my parents.
I can’t give it to my children because I’m a woman,” adding that it is “virtually impossible” to obtain Nigerian citizenship, in contrast to the UK where “loads of Nigerians come and acquire British citizenship relatively easily.”
Reacting in a statement issued Monday, Falana described Badenoch’s assertion as “a display of utter ignorance” and accused her of misinforming the public for political gain.
“In her desperate attempt to impress the British electorate, Kemi Badenoch keeps running down Nigeria,” Falana stated. “Contrary to her misleading claim, her children are Nigerians because she is a Nigerian.”
Falana cited Section 25 of the Nigerian Constitution, which provides that a person born outside Nigeria to a Nigerian parent—either the father or the mother—is entitled to Nigerian citizenship.
He also pointed to Section 42(2), which guarantees equal rights irrespective of gender. “Therefore, her two children are Nigerian citizens.
The fact that she may not want them to claim it is irrelevant. For now, they are dual citizens of Britain and Nigeria,” he said.
Addressing Badenoch’s additional claim that Nigerian citizenship is nearly impossible for foreigners to obtain, Falana noted that the Constitution allows for naturalisation and registration under Sections 26 and 27, provided certain legal conditions are met.
“Her statement is misleading,” he said. “It is not impossible for foreigners to become Nigerians. They only need to satisfy the stipulated requirements.”
However, Falana acknowledged gaps in the legal framework, including the gender disparity in spousal citizenship rights.
“While a woman married to a Nigerian man can be registered as a citizen, the same privilege is not currently extended to a man married to a Nigerian woman. This discriminatory provision reflects the patriarchal nature of the law and should be urgently amended,” he said.
Badenoch, who was born in the UK to Nigerian parents, holds dual British-Nigerian citizenship. Her remarks come amid increasing scrutiny of immigration policy in the UK and debates over national identity, as the Conservative Party seeks to appeal to right-wing voters ahead of the next general election.
As of press time, Badenoch had not responded to Falana’s remarks.
