Prominent human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, has criticised UK Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch over her claim that she cannot pass Nigerian citizenship to her children because she is a woman.
Badenoch made the remark during an interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria on Sunday, where she also suggested that it is easier for Nigerians to gain British citizenship than it is for foreigners to become Nigerian citizens. “It’s virtually impossible to get Nigerian citizenship,” she said. “I can’t give it to my children because I’m a woman.”
In a swift response on Monday, Falana described Badenoch’s statement as “a display of utter ignorance” and accused her of misleading the British public for political gain. “In her desperate attempt to impress the British electorate, Kemi Badenoch keeps running down Nigeria,” he said in a statement.
Falana cited Sections 25(b) and (c) of the Nigerian Constitution, which affirm that a person born outside Nigeria to a Nigerian parent — regardless of gender — is entitled to Nigerian citizenship. He also referenced Section 42(2), which prohibits discrimination based on gender, class, or birth.
“Contrary to her misleading claim, her children are Nigerians because she is a Nigerian,” Falana stated. “The fact that she may not want them to claim it is irrelevant. For now, they are dual citizens of Britain and Nigeria.”
He further dismissed Badenoch’s assertion that Nigerian citizenship is inaccessible to foreigners. Citing Sections 26 and 27 of the Constitution, Falana explained that foreigners can acquire Nigerian citizenship through registration or naturalisation, provided they meet the legal criteria.
However, he acknowledged a flaw in the law’s gender balance, noting that while a foreign woman married to a Nigerian man can be registered as a citizen, the same does not apply to foreign men married to Nigerian women — a gap he urged lawmakers to correct.
