Badenoch says British politician’s “Nigerian scammer” comment racist
British Conservative Party leader, Kemi Badenoch, on Thursday condemned a former senior aide to Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage, for calling her a “Nigerian scammer.”
Speaking during an interview on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, Mrs Badenoch, who was born in London, but grew up in Nigeria, said the attack by Raheem Kassam, denigrating her Nigerian background was “racist.”
Mr Kassam, a former editor-in-chief of Breitbart News, launched attacks against Mrs Badenoch on social media, and accusing her of using her Nigerian background to advance her career.
He wrote, “How are people still falling for this Nigerian scammer? Don’t give her your credit card number and bank account details!”
However, Mrs Badenoch said the antics by Mr Kassam, and the opposition party of using her race to score themselves political points wouldn’t work, and condemned Reform politicians for attacking her, rather than selling their policies.
She said, “I think it just shows the sort of people they are. I think they think that maybe using my race is a way for them to improve their standing. Britain is not a racist country, and because it’s not a racist country, their racist attacks and using my race as an attack form is not going to work.”
The Reform’s Treasury spokesman, Robert Jenrick, in an interview with ITV, said Mr Kassam’s remarks weren’t racist but described them as unpleasant or rude.
Mr Jenrick said, “It’s not my place to police everybody’s tweets who may or may not be a supporter of Reform.”
Mr Farage, in an interview with BBC Breakfast, defended Mr Kassam’s comments, saying though his comments were “over the top,” he believed that referring to her growing up in Nigeria was not racist.
We have recently deactivated our website's comment provider in favour of other channels of distribution and commentary. We encourage you to join the conversation on our stories via our Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages.
More from Peoples Gazette
States
Independence: NBA urges Nigerians to expect better future
The NBA said that ordinary Nigerians should be deriving benefit from the subsidy removal rather than hardship.
Agriculture
FG tasks ECOWAS on leveraging financing strategies for agroecology
The federal government has urged stakeholders in the agriculture and finance sectors in the West Africa region to leverage financing strategies to enhance agroecology practices
Politics
Katsina youths pledge to deliver over 2 million votes to Atiku
“Katsina State is Atiku’s political base because it is his second home.”
States
CCD applauds NSCDC for establishing disability desks across Oyo
The CCD said the initiative would promote disability-inclusive security service delivery.
States
Tinubu govt demonstrated unique sense of urgency in tackling Kano’s insecurity: Kwankwaso
Mr Kwankwaso stated, “For all that President Tinubu is doing for Kano, the people of the state will continue to appreciate him.”
States
Abia repaid over N90 billion debt in three years, says Otti
The governor said that the Debt Management Office (DMO) put the state’s debt profile at N147.2 billion in the second quarter of 2023.
World
From China to Kosovo: Sports stars who stirred global controversies
The Kosovo’s Tennis Federation condemned Djokovic’s statement, accusing him of causing tension between Serbia and Kosovo.
World
Iran vows earth-shattering reprisals if U.S. renews attacks
Iran threatened to deal with any country trying to harm its people.
States
One injured in Lagos-Abeokuta road crash
TRACE stated that normalcy had been restored on the road for free vehicle passage.





