A presidential aide, Dada Olusegun, has criticized British Conservative politician Kemi Badenoch over her recent claim that Nigerian citizenship laws discriminate against women.
Badenoch, while speaking during a CNN interview with Fareed Zakaria, alleged that she cannot transfer her Nigerian citizenship to her children due to her gender.
She also suggested that becoming a Nigerian citizen is “virtually impossible” for foreigners, unlike the ease with which Nigerians gain British citizenship.
“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 said during the interview.
Reacting on Monday through a post on his X handle, Olusegun accused Badenoch of deliberately misrepresenting Nigeria’s laws and unfairly portraying the country in a negative light.
“Stop distorting facts about Nigeria, Aunty @KemiBadenoch,” the aide wrote.
“Why this consistent and dangerous attempt to discredit your country of origin?”
He cited Section 25(1)(c) of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution, which affirms that children born abroad to a Nigerian citizen by birth — whether the mother or father — automatically acquire Nigerian citizenship by descent.
According to Olusegun, Badenoch’s children are Nigerians by law and do not require naturalisation or registration.
“Born in the United Kingdom to Nigerian parents, Badenoch spent part of her early life in Lagos before returning to the UK at age 16. She is married to a Scottish man, Hamish Badenoch, and they have three children.”
“Under Nigeria’s citizenship laws, a child born outside the country to a parent who is Nigerian by birth is entitled to citizenship by descent. This provision grants full rights, including entry and residence in Nigeria, as well as all constitutional protections.”
“While the constitution permits dual citizenship for those born Nigerian, it sets specific conditions for those who gain citizenship by registration or naturalisation, including possible forfeiture upon acquiring another nationality.”
“On the issue of gender, the Constitution does not prevent women from passing citizenship to their children. However, it does treat spousal citizenship differently — foreign women married to Nigerian men are eligible for citizenship by registration, but foreign men married to Nigerian women must apply through naturalisation, which involves stricter criteria.”
