Kemi Badenoch. Photo source: The Guardian Newspaper
|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Claim: British Minister Kemi Badenoch said her children cannot acquire Nigerian citizenship because she is a woman.
Verdict: False. The Nigerian Constitution allows children born outside Nigeria to claim citizenship by birth through either parent, regardless of gender.
Full Text
Kemi Badenoch, the United Kingdom’s Secretary of State for Business and Trade, has claimed that her children cannot obtain Nigerian citizenship because she is a woman.
In an interview aired on Sunday, July 14, 2025, on CNN and later shared by Nigerian news platform TheCable, Kemi attempted to contrast the British and Nigerian immigration systems.
She argued that while Nigerians easily become British citizens, her children are unable to access Nigerian citizenship, saying: “My children can’t get Nigerian citizenship because I’m a woman.”
As of July 20, 2025, the video has been reposted 306 times on X.
Given the sensitivity of citizenship laws and the potential for misinformation, especially from a public figure, DUBAWA decided to verify the claim and prevent the spread of inaccurate legal assumptions.
Verification
The Nigerian Constitution does not support Kemi’s assertion.
Section 25(1)(c) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) clearly states that:
“Every person born outside Nigeria, either of whose father or mother is a citizen of Nigeria, shall be a citizen of Nigeria.”
Legal expert Agbo Pius, a lawyer, affirmed this interpretation. Referencing the constitutional provision, Agbo said, “Under Nigerian law, a child born outside Nigeria to a Nigerian mother and a non-Nigerian father can acquire citizenship by birth. The Constitution doesn’t make any distinction based on the parents’ gender.”
He explained further that having just one Nigerian parent, whether mother or father, is sufficient to confer citizenship by birth.
In the context of Kemi’s claim, Agbo noted that it is not true that she cannot pass her Nigerian citizenship to her children because she is a woman.
He added that eligibility would, however, depend on the child being able to prove the Nigerian parent’s citizenship through documentation such as birth certificates, passports, or national identity cards.
Another legal practitioner, Charity Ogbole, supported this view and added that children born abroad to Nigerian mothers are not required to apply for citizenship, as they are automatically recognised as citizens by the Constitution.
“I believe the purport of Section 25(1)(c) is well understood and given effect by immigration officers whenever the need arises.”
“Judging from the fact that acquiring Nigerian citizenship is not difficult because of our porous system, it shouldn’t be hard for any Nigerian mother to pass on her citizenship to her children,” she said.
There is no constitutional or administrative barrier, both in law and practice, preventing Nigerian women from transmitting citizenship to their children born abroad.
Resolution Law Nigeria also affirms that this provision grants citizenship by birth to any child born abroad if either parent, whether father or mother, is a Nigerian by birth, registration, or naturalisation.
This means that Nigerian citizenship is based on parenthood, rather than gender or place of birth. A Nigerian mother has the same constitutional rights as a Nigerian father in conferring citizenship on her children.
Conclusion
The claim by Kemi Badenoch that her children cannot acquire Nigerian citizenship because she is a woman is false. Nigerian law does not discriminate based on gender in citizenship by birth.
Under Nigerian law, a child born outside Nigeria to a Nigerian mother and a non-Nigerian father can acquire citizenship by birth. The Constitution doesn’t make any distinction based on the parent’s gender, as Section 25(1)(c) of the 1999 Constitution states that a person born outside Nigeria is a citizen of Nigeria if either of their parents is a citizen of Nigeria, either by birth or registration or naturalization
This means that having just one Nigerian parent, regardless of whether it’s the mother or father, is sufficient for citizenship by birth. So, in the case of Kemi Badenoch’s claim that she can’t pass her Nigerian citizenship to her children because she’s a woman, it’s actually not true according to Nigerian law.
To acquire citizenship by birth, the child’s eligibility would depend on proving their parent’s Nigerian citizenship through documentation such as birth certificates, passports, or national identity cards