Politics
‘INEC ‘ll Support Diaspora Voting’’
The Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) is in favour of Diaspora voting, and will continue to work with the National Assembly towards its actualisation, the Commission’s Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, has said.
Speaking at a meeting, with members of the Senate Committee on Diaspora and Non – Governmental Organisations, in Abuja, Yakubu said that Nigerians living abroad “have the right, like their compatriots living in the country, to exercise their franchise in all elections organised in the country”.
However, for this to happen, he explained, the relevant sections of the constitution would have to be amended. Besides, some challenges that could emerge from allowing Diaspora voting, such as funding and the modalities to be adopted, would have to be tackled.
The Chairperson of the Committee, Senator Rose Okoji Oko said the agitation by Nigerians in the 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, informed the committee’s visit to INEC.
According to her, the former President had endorsed the idea in 2010 during his visit to Gabon, while the current President also gave his support during his recent visit to Malabo.
The senator, who once served as National Commissioner at INEC, affirmed that a total of 115 countries, 28 of which are on the African continent, currently have provisions for Diaspora voting. She admitted that some Nigerians were against the idea “because of what they perceived as funding challenges, the current position of the law on the matter and some fears about the electoral system.”
But that notwithstanding, she was of the view that despite the various challenges facing INEC in the conduct of various elections in Nigeria, the commission “has not continued to conduct elections.” And for those who complain about what Diaspora voting would cost, she asked: “Is the amount so huge that we cannot afford it?”
She said that while Nigeria did not need to copy what other countries had done, “the country needs to evolve its own unique policy.” According to her, 79 countries currently allow voting to take place at their respective foreign embassies, while 16 others allow voting by proxy. “Nigeria can look at all these different procedures and then evolve its own unique method,” she observed.
One of such methods, she said, is to determine if Diaspora voting could apply only to presidential or governorship election as a starting point. She insisted that it would be unfair to continue to deny Nigerians in Diaspora their right to vote, despite their enormous contributions to the country’s economy. She revealed that two – thirds of the $34 billion being projected to flow into sub-Sahara Africa this year “will come into Nigeria.”
Mr Ojukwu, who recently returned to the interim National Working Committee led by Senator Esther Nenadi Usman, noted that the party had 34 elected members in the House of Representatives, eight Senators, and 80 members at the state Houses of Assembly after the 2023 general elections.
“Now we lost all of them,” he said. “I don’t think we have as many as five members in the National Assembly.”
The former national officer of the LP talked to journalists in Abuja and said he chose to join the caretaker committee led by Senator Nenadi-Usman because they are now the officially recognized leaders of the Party.
“I chose to work with the caretaker committee to help save the Labour Party, for the benefit of the party. I also want to use this chance to ask my colleagues at the national, state, and local government levels to come together and help rebuild our party.
“Another election is around the corner. We lost everything we have. They have left to other political parties. So I’ll reach out to all my friends in the other group to get together and work on making this party stronger again.
“The caretaker committee has formed a reconciliation committee. Let’s come together and talk so that we can restore the first opposition political party in Nigeria.”
Mr Ojukwu, who was part of the Julius Abure’s group, said there are no more factions in the LP.
He added, “There is a court ruling, and since it is valid, the right people are in the correct positions.”
He urged Barr Abure and others to drop the legal cases they have filed because they are not helping the party.
“Litigations are killing political parties”, he said. “They’ve seen many political parties disappear because of legal battles, and the Labor Party is losing support every day, which makes me feel sad.”
Mr Ojukwu said he did not think joining the Senator Nenadi-Usman’s NWC was a betrayal of the Abure group, describing himself as “the oxygen” of that faction.
“I’m with this group because of the verdict. But I never betrayed anybody. Rather, I was betrayed,” he added.
