INEC plans diaspora voting in the country.

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, said yesterday it would work with the Senate to actualise Diaspora voting in the country.


Chairman of the commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, who stated this at a meeting with the Senate Committee on Diaspora and Non-Governmental Organisations in his office in Abuja, averred that Nigerians living abroad  had the right, like their compatriots living in the country, to exercise their franchise in all elections organized in the country.

He said, however, that for this to happen, relevant sections of the Constitution would have to be amended, beside some other challenges that could emerge from allowing Diaspora voting, such as funding and the modalities to be adopted, which must be tackled.

He said: “INEC believes that Nigerians living outside the country should be able to vote. This is because they are citizens of Nigeria, they make considerable contributions to the economy.

‘’There is a sizeable number of them living all over the world; some have estimated that they are around 15 million, and Diaspora voting is consistent with global practice.”

Prof. Yakubu said under the exiting law, Nigerians living abroad who had the desire to vote, must return home to register when voters’ registration was being conducted and also to vote during actual elections.

Chairperson of the committee, Senator Rose Okoji Oko, stated that the continuous calls by Nigerians in Diaspora to be given the opportunity to exercise their franchise, and the favourable disposition of President Muhammadu Buhari and his predecessor, former President Goodluck Jonathan, among others, to the idea, informed the committee’s visit to INEC.

Source: vanguard