Badenoch, who was born to Nigerian parents in the UK, had claimed in a recent interview that she could not pass her Nigerian citizenship to her children because she is a woman.
Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has criticised Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the United Kingdom’s Conservative Party, over her recent remarks about Nigerian citizenship.
In a press statement issued on Sunday, Falana described Badenoch’s comments as “a display of utter ignorance of the law guiding Nigerian citizenship,” and accused her of consistently running down Nigeria in a “desperate attempt to impress the British electorate.”
Badenoch, who was born to Nigerian parents in the UK, had claimed in a recent interview that she could not pass her Nigerian citizenship to her children because she is a woman.
She said: “There are many people who come to our country, to the UK, who do things that would not be acceptable in their countries. It’s virtually impossible, for example, to get Nigerian citizenship. I had that citizenship by virtue of my parents. I can’t give it to my children because I’m a woman. Yet loads of Nigerians come to the UK, stay for a relatively brief period of time, acquire British citizenship. We need to stop being naive.”
But Falana countered the claim, stating unequivocally that Badenoch’s children are indeed Nigerians under the law.
He said, “Contrary to Kemi Badenoch’s misleading claim, her children are Nigerians because she is a Nigerian. Her assertion that she cannot give Nigerian citizenship to her children because she is a woman is not in consonance with Section 25(b) and (c) of the Nigerian Constitution which provides that ‘every person born in Nigeria after the date of independence either of whose parents or any of whose grandparents is a citizen of Nigeria; and (c) every person born outside Nigeria either of whose parents is a citizen of Nigeria.’”
Falana further explained that the Nigerian Constitution forbids discrimination based on gender or the circumstances of one’s birth.
“Furthermore, by virtue of Section 42(2) of the Nigerian Constitution, 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. To that extent, Kemi Badenoch’s children cannot be denied their Nigerian citizenship because of her gender,” he added.
He added that Badenoch’s children, by law, are dual citizens of both Nigeria and the UK.
“Therefore, like Kemi Badenoch, her two children are Nigerian citizens. The fact that the Tory leader may not want them to claim their Nigerian citizenship is totally irrelevant,” Falana said, adding, “For now, they are dual citizens of Britain and Nigeria. It is up to the children to renounce their Nigerian citizenship upon the attainment of full age in accordance with Section 29 of the Nigerian Constitution.”
Falana also dismissed Badenoch’s assertion that acquiring Nigerian citizenship is “virtually impossible,” calling it a “baseless claim.”
He said, “Kemi Badenoch also said that ‘It’s virtually impossible, for example, to get Nigerian citizenship.’ Her baseless claim cannot be justified under Sections 26 and 27 of the Nigerian Constitution which state that a foreigner is qualified to acquire the citizenship of Nigeria either by naturalisation or registration upon the fulfilment of certain conditions.”
While acknowledging that Nigeria’s citizenship laws are not without flaws, Falana noted that reforms are needed to eliminate gender discrimination.
“No doubt, there are aspects of the Nigerian Constitution with respect to citizenship that require urgent amendment. For example, a woman who is married to a Nigerian man is qualified for registration as a citizen,” he said.
“But the same right is not accorded to a man who is married to a Nigerian woman because of the patriarchal nature of the society.”
Falana’s remarks come amid growing backlash against Badenoch’s comments, which have been widely criticised by Nigerians both at home and in the diaspora.
