UK Conservative Party leader, Kemi Badenoch, has stirred controversy after claiming that her children cannot obtain Nigerian citizenship because she is a woman.
The statement was made during an interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, where she discussed immigration policies and cultural integration between the UK and other nations.
“There are many people who come to our country, to the UK, who do things that would not be acceptable in their countries,” Badenoch said, using Nigeria as a reference “It’s virtually impossible, for example, to get Nigerian citizenship.
I have that citizenship by virtue of my parents; I can’t give it to my children because I’m a woman.”
Badenoch used the alleged citizenship barrier as an example of how other countries enforce cultural and legal restrictions that the UK would not tolerate.
However, her statement has since been refuted by Nigerian immigration authorities and legal experts.
Former Comptroller General of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Muhammed Babandede, swiftly responded via a statement on X (formerly Twitter), clarifying that Section 25 of the Nigerian Constitution grants citizenship by birth to individuals whose mother or father—or even grandparents—are Nigerian citizens.
Babandede stated:
“As a former Comptroller General of the Nigeria Immigration Service who oversaw citizenship matters, Section 25 of the Nigerian Constitution allows persons whose parents or grandparents (both male and female) to become citizens by birth.”
Legal analysts and commentators have echoed Babandede’s position, stressing that gender is not a barrier to transmitting Nigerian citizenship to children if the parent is a citizen by birth.
Badenoch’s remarks have sparked criticism from Nigerians at home and abroad, with many accusing her of misrepresenting the laws of her country of origin to support her political narrative in the UK.
