By Charles Pemu 
Prominent human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana (SAN), has strongly criticised UK Conservative Party leader, Kemi Badenoch, over her misleading remarks about Nigeria’s citizenship laws.
In a recent attempt to sway British voters, Badenoch claimed it was “virtually impossible” to obtain Nigerian citizenship and falsely asserted that, as a woman, she could not pass her Nigerian citizenship to her children.
But Falana, in a detailed rebuttal, pointed out that her comments betray “utter ignorance” of the Nigerian Constitution. He cited Section 25(b) and (c) of the 1999 Constitution, which clearly provides that children born outside Nigeria are Nigerian citizens if either parent is a Nigerian. “Her two children are Nigerians by birth, just like she is,” Falana said.
He also referenced Section 42(2) of the Constitution, stressing that citizens cannot be discriminated against based on gender, and called Badenoch’s gender-based assertion legally and constitutionally inaccurate.
Further dismantling her claim that acquiring Nigerian citizenship is near impossible, Falana highlighted Sections 26 and 27, which allow foreigners to become citizens through naturalization or registration once statutory conditions are met.
While noting that certain discriminatory provisions in the Constitution still need reform—particularly the lack of reciprocal rights for foreign husbands of Nigerian women Falana insisted Badenoch’s remarks were not only false but unhelpful.
“The Tory leader may not want her children to claim Nigerian citizenship, but it is irrelevant. They are Nigerians. It’s the law,” he concluded.