Kemi Badenoch, leader of the United Kingdom’s Conservative Party, has claimed she cannot pass Nigerian citizenship to her children because of her gender, using the example to criticise what she described as the UK’s overly lenient immigration policies.
Speaking in an interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria on Sunday, Badenoch contrasted Britain’s immigration system with that of Nigeria, arguing that many immigrants exploit the UK’s legal framework in ways that would not be tolerated in their home countries.
Asked if she would allow Nigerian immigrants to establish “mini-Nigerias” in the UK as a form of cultural integration, she responded firmly: “No.”
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“That is not right. Nigerians would not tolerate that. That’s not something that many countries would accept,” she said. “There are many people who come to our country, to the UK, who do things that would not be acceptable in their countries.”
To further her point, Badenoch cited her own experience as a British-born woman of Nigerian descent. She claimed that while she holds Nigerian citizenship through her parents, she is unable to pass it to her children due to her gender.
“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.”
“Yet loads of Nigerians come to the UK and stay for a relatively free period of time, acquire British citizenship. We need to stop being naive.”
Badenoch is married to Hamish Badenoch, a Scottish banker, and the couple have three children.
However, her claim contradicts Section 25(1)(c) of the Nigerian Constitution, which states that any person born outside Nigeria is a citizen by birth if either parent is a Nigerian. This provision makes no distinction based on the gender of the Nigerian parent.
Born in London in 1980 to Yoruba Nigerian parents, Badenoch spent much of her early life in Nigeria before returning to the UK at 16. She later adopted her husband’s surname and entered politics, eventually serving in the cabinets of former prime ministers Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak between 2022 and 2024.
Known for her tough stance on immigration, Badenoch reiterated during the interview that she would tighten the rules around acquiring British citizenship.
She said her government would make it “a lot harder” for immigrants to gain citizenship, as part of broader efforts to reduce abuse of the UK’s immigration system.
