There are indications that the paternity crisis in Nigeria is not abating yet, with a new report showing one in four Nigerian men are not biographical fathers of their children.
The report conducted by a leading DNA testing centre in Lagos, Smart DNA, from its annual comprehensive report from July 2024 to June 2025, found that 25 percent of DNA tests in Nigeria reflected negative.
According to the statement, 25 percent of paternity tests returned negative, indicating that one in four tested men were not the biological fathers of the children involved.
While this represents a slight decline from 27 percent recorded in 2024, the figure remains a disheartening reflection of ongoing paternity uncertainty.
The report also revealed that firstborn sons have the highest discrepancies, with 64 percent of tests showing negative results. Firstborn daughters similarly recorded elevated cases compared to later-born children, though less pronounced than the male.
Furthermore, the analysis showed that men from 41 years and above initiated 88.2 percent of all tests.
The report noted that this demographic is more likely to seek testing due to financial stability and the desire to resolve long-standing doubts.
In terms of age distribution, children between 0 and 5 years formed the largest group tested, suggesting that paternity concerns often surface early in a child’s life.
Smart DNA, however, warned that such revelations carry significant emotional and financial consequences for families. The centre urged for legal reforms to address paternity fraud and emphasized the need for public education to correct misconceptions about DNA testing and promote its wider acceptance in Nigeria.
