Falana slams Kemi Badenoch over remarks on Nigerian citizenship
Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, has criticised UK Conservative Party leader and Business Secretary, Kemi Badenoch, over her recent comments on Nigerian citizenship, calling them a display of “utter ignorance” of Nigeria’s legal provisions.
Badenoch had claimed in a recent interview that she could not pass Nigerian citizenship to her children because she is a woman and described acquiring Nigerian citizenship as “virtually impossible.”
Reacting on Monday, Falana debunked the claims, citing Sections 25(b) and (c) of the Nigerian Constitution. He explained that Badenoch’s children are Nigerians by birth since she is Nigerian, regardless of her gender or where the children were born.
He also referred to Section 42(2) of the Constitution, which guarantees equal rights to all citizens and prohibits discrimination based on gender or circumstances of birth.
Falana clarified that Badenoch’s children hold dual citizenship of Nigeria and the United Kingdom, and may only renounce their Nigerian citizenship upon reaching adulthood, as provided in Section 29 of the Constitution.
Addressing her claim on the difficulty of acquiring Nigerian citizenship, Falana said Sections 26 and 27 provide for citizenship by registration or naturalisation, with clear conditions for eligibility.
However, he acknowledged a legal gap, noting that while foreign women married to Nigerian men can obtain citizenship by registration, the law does not grant the same right to foreign men married to Nigerian women.
Falana concluded that Badenoch’s comments appeared to be an attempt to appeal to British voters by misrepresenting Nigeria, warning that such statements unfairly malign her country of origin.
