The Federal Government has strongly refuted a recent claim by Kemi Badenoch, a British Conservative Party leader, that Nigerian law prevents women from passing on citizenship to their children.
Badenoch, while speaking during an interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria on Sunday, stated that she could not pass Nigerian citizenship to her children because she is a woman. “While many Nigerians are taking advantage of the UK’s relatively easy citizenship acquisition process,” she said, “it remains virtually impossible 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.”
In response, the spokesperson for Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kimiebi Imomotimi Ebienfa, described the assertion as both false and disturbing. Speaking to The Nation, Ebienfa clarified that Nigerian law does not discriminate based on gender in matters of citizenship by descent.
“This is a false and very disturbing narrative,” he said. “Section 25 of the Nigerian Constitution clearly allows citizenship by descent for children born abroad if either parent is a Nigerian citizen, with no gender distinction.”
The Federal Government urged the public to disregard the misleading statement and reaffirmed its commitment to gender equality in citizenship rights.