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Breaking News: Stop Spreading Lies About Nigeria – Dabiri-Erewa Faults Badenoch’s Claim on Nigerian Citizenship Laws
The Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has sharply criticised UK Conservative politician Kemi Badenoch for making what she described as false and damaging claims about Nigerian citizenship laws.
In a recent interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, Badenoch, who is of Nigerian descent and currently serves as the UK’s Business and Trade Secretary, claimed she was unable to pass on her Nigerian citizenship to her children due to her gender.
“It’s virtually impossible, for example, to get Nigerian citizenship,” Badenoch told CNN. “I have that citizenship by virtue of my parents, I can’t give it to my children because I’m a woman.”
But Dabiri-Erewa strongly refuted the claim, labelling it as misinformation. “But that is not even true. And that is the problem I have. Don’t divulge false information. You go on international media and spew a lie. That is a lie,” she said during an interview on Friday.
She expressed concern over Badenoch’s decision to publicly disparage Nigeria with an inaccurate statement, stressing that the law does allow Nigerian women to confer citizenship on their children.
“When you denigrate your country, we’ll reply you. It’s not about me or the president or you. It’s about Nigeria. You can’t lie about your country then we keep quiet,” Dabiri-Erewa stated.
She urged the public not to dwell on Badenoch’s comments alone, noting that numerous Nigerians in the UK and beyond are making significant positive contributions.
“You know the number of Nigerians we have in the UK in the political space that are doing very well. We don’t have to focus on one person,” she added.