Presidency debunks Badenoch’s citizenship claim on Nigeria

Presidential aide, Dada Olusegun has criticised the United Kingdom’s Conservative Party leader, Kemi Badenoch over her recent comments on Nigerian citizenship.

Badenoch, during an interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria on Sunday, claimed that she cannot pass on her Nigerian citizenship to her children because of her gender.

She argued that it is easier for Nigerians to acquire British citizenship than for foreigners to become Nigerians.

She said, “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.

“Yet loads of Nigerians come to the UK and stay for a relatively free period of time, acquire British citizenship. We need to stop being naive.”

Reacting to the claim in a post via his X handle on Monday, Olusegun accused Badenoch of deliberately misrepresenting Nigeria’s laws.

The presidential aide also accused the UK politician of a continuous attempt to malign Nigeria.

He wrote: “Aunty @KemiBadenoch, why do you continue to lie against your motherland? Why this continuous, dangerous, and desperate attempt to malign Nigeria?

“Chapter 3, Section 25(1)(c) of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution states that if the Nigerian woman is a citizen by birth, her children, whether born in Nigeria or abroad, are Nigerian citizens by descent, automatically under Section 25 of the Constitution.

“This holds regardless of the father’s nationality. You do not need to apply for registration or naturalisation for her child to be a citizen.”

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Born in the UK to Nigerian parents, Olukemi Adegoke (now Kemi Badenoch) grew up in Lagos, Nigeria, before returning to the UK at the age of 16. She is married to Scottish banker Hamish Badenoch, and they have three children.

According to Section 25(1)(c) of the 1999 Constitution, a person born outside Nigeria is a citizen of Nigeria if either of their parents is a Nigerian citizen.

This means having just one Nigerian parent is sufficient for citizenship by birth.

Citizenship by birth in Nigeria means acquiring Nigerian citizenship automatically at birth, based primarily on the citizenship status of one’s parents or grandparents, rather than solely on the place of birth.

This status grants the holder all the rights of citizenship, including the right to enter Nigeria freely and enjoy constitutional protections.

Nigerian law also allows dual citizenship, but with specific conditions.

Section 28(1) states that a person who is a Nigerian citizen by birth may acquire the citizenship of another country without losing their Nigerian citizenship.

However, a person who is not a Nigerian by birth who acquired citizenship by registration or naturalisation will forfeit their Nigerian citizenship if they acquire or retain the citizenship of another country.

In addition, the law does not restrict privileges of citizenship by birth to gender. Gender becomes relevant only in cases involving foreign spouses.

Section 26(2)(a) of the Nigerian Constitution states, “any woman who is or has been married to a citizen of Nigeria” may become a citizen too.

Foreign men married to Nigerian women are not automatically eligible for citizenship by registration under this law; they may have to qualify by naturalisation, which has stricter requirements.

Thus, it would be difficult for Badenoch’s Scottish husband to be automatically granted citizenship.

However, this does not apply to their children, who have a Nigerian mother and Nigerian grandparents.

Punch Newspaper