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Sani fires sharp dig at British minister for renouncing Nigerian identity.
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Badenoch says she hasn’t renewed her Nigerian passport in over 20 years.
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Social media erupts over minister’s controversial remarks on her ancestry.
In a swift and pointed response that has since gone viral across Nigerian social media platforms, former Kaduna Central Senator, Shehu Sani, has taken aim at British Conservative MP and cabinet minister, Kemi Badenoch, after her comments disowning any present-day affiliation with Nigeria.
Sani, known for his acerbic wit and trenchant commentary, did not mince words when he reacted to Badenoch’s recent revelation that she no longer regards herself as Nigerian — despite being born to Nigerian parents and spending a substantial part of her early life in Nigeria.
“If you no longer see yourself as Nigerian, just go the whole nine yards and change your name to Kimberly or Kim Kardashian,” Sani quipped sarcastically, delivering the verbal jab on his official X (formerly Twitter) handle on Saturday night.
The senator’s remark followed Badenoch’s appearance on the Rosebud podcast hosted by British broadcaster and author Gyles Brandreth, where she openly admitted that, despite her Nigerian heritage, she no longer personally identifies with the country.
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“I’m Nigerian through ancestry, by birth, despite not being born there because of my parents, but by identity I’m not really,” Badenoch had said during the recorded conversation. She further disclosed that she has not renewed her Nigerian passport in over twenty years.
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“I know the country very well, I have a lot of family there, and I’m very interested in what happens there,” Badenoch added, while quickly qualifying her interest as that of an outsider observing rather than a participant engaging. She noted that home, for her, is now the United Kingdom where her husband, children, and in-laws live.
“The Conservative Party is very much part of my family, my extended family, I call it,” she said, making no mention of any existing formal connection to Nigeria beyond biological lineage.
Badenoch, born in Wimbledon in 1980, spent parts of her childhood in Nigeria and the United States before returning permanently to the United Kingdom at age 16. She was among the last group of individuals to receive British citizenship by birthright before the policy was tightened by the Thatcher government in 1981.
Now a prominent figure in the Tory establishment, she currently serves as Secretary of State for Business and Trade and has been repeatedly tipped as a future leadership contender.
