Presidential aide, Dada Olusegun, has called out UK Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch for misrepresenting Nigerian citizenship laws in a recent interview.
Badenoch, speaking on CNN’s Fareed Zakaria GPS on Sunday, claimed that she is unable to pass her Nigerian citizenship to her children due to being a woman. She further argued that it is easier for Nigerians to acquire British citizenship than for foreigners to obtain Nigerian citizenship.
“It’s virtually impossible, for example, to get Nigerian citizenship,” she said. “I have that citizenship by virtue of my parents. I can’t give it to my children because I’m a woman.”
In response, Olusegun refuted her claims via a post on his X (formerly Twitter) account on Monday, accusing the British lawmaker of consistently misrepresenting her country of origin.
“Aunty @KemiBadenoch, why do you continue to lie against your motherland?” Olusegun wrote. “Chapter 3, Section 25(1)(c) of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution clearly states that children born to Nigerian women—regardless of where they are born—automatically qualify for Nigerian citizenship by descent.”
He stressed that the law does not discriminate based on gender in cases of citizenship by birth, and clarified that Badenoch’s children are eligible for Nigerian citizenship through their mother.
Kemi Badenoch, born in the UK to Nigerian parents, spent part of her childhood in Lagos before returning to Britain at age 16. She is married to Scottish banker Hamish Badenoch and has three children.
According to the Nigerian Constitution, anyone born outside Nigeria is a citizen by birth if either parent is a Nigerian citizen.
This confers full rights, including entry and protection under Nigerian law.
While dual citizenship is allowed for those born Nigerian, it may be forfeited by naturalised or registered citizens if they take up another country’s nationality.
The Constitution does make distinctions when it comes to spouses, allowing foreign women married to Nigerian men to apply for citizenship by registration—but not offering the same path to foreign men married to Nigerian women.
Nonetheless, Olusegun emphasized that this restriction does not affect children born to Nigeria women, contradicting Badenoch’s claims.