The Presidency has launched a scathing critique against Kemi Badenoch, a prominent figure in the British Conservative Party, dismissing her recent assertion that her gender prevents her from transmitting Nigerian citizenship to her children.
The Presidency labelled her claim as erroneous and suggested that the United Kingdom should facilitate her ‘proper re-education’ on the matter.
Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, took to his X (formerly Twitter) platform to challenge Badenoch’s statement, which was made during a CNN interview with Fareed Zakaria.
Onanuga accused her of misrepresenting Nigerian law and demanded an apology from the UK official.
“Kemi Badenoch lied. She owes her fatherland some apology,” Onanuga declared in his social media post.
He continued, “Britain should send our lost daughter Kemi Badenoch home for a proper re-education.”
The presidential aide backed his rebuttal by directly citing Section 25 of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution (as amended).
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He quoted the constitutional provision, emphasising that it unequivocally grants citizenship by birth to ‘every person born outside Nigeria, either of whose parents is a citizen of Nigeria’, irrespective of the parent’s gender.
Badenoch, who was born in the UK to Nigerian parents and spent part of her formative years in Nigeria before returning to Britain at age 16, had stirred controversy during her CNN appearance.
She had claimed, “It’s virtually impossible, for example, to get Nigerian citizenship. I have that citizenship by my parents. I can’t give it to my children because I’m a woman.”
Badenoch is married to a Scottish banker and has three children.
Onanuga urged intervention by commending Nigerian-British lawyer and political activist Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu for publicly correcting Badenoch’s statement, describing Dr Mos-Shogbamimu’s swift action as ‘enlightening.’
