As preparations for the 2023 general elections in Nigeria gradually kick-off, conversations surrounding diaspora voting have become popular, with 2019 presidential candidate, Kingsley Moghalu joining a long list of Nigerians demanding this reform.
Mogahalu who contested but lost the presidential elections to incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari in February 2019, made his support for diaspora voting known through a statement issued in Lagos on Thursday. The 2019 Presidential Candidate of the Young Progressive Party (YPP) explained that allowing Nigerians in Diaspora vote would provide them with a higher sense of belonging.
Citing the recent elections in Ghana which allowed for Ghanaians in diaspora to participate in the polls, Moghalu reiterated that whether living in Nigeria or not, Nigerians should be allowed to vote as “It is their right”. The former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) who was the youngest major contender in the 2019 polls among heavyweights like former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, also called on the National Assembly to fast-track its process to ensure that all is set and in place ahead of the polls.
“2023 may seem far but is by the corner especially for INEC as it needs ample time to register and accommodate every eligible Nigerian living abroad to be part of the voting process, he said. “If the Central Bank of Nigeria can woo diaspora remittances, we need to woo their votes too.”
INEC On Board
Nigeria’s official electoral body, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has over the past few months expressed its support for diaspora voting taking off with the 2023 general elections. Although the senate had expressed doubts on its feasibility, INEC Chairman, Prof. Yakubu Mahmood, while urging the senate to amend the Electoral Act, opined that INEC believed that Nigerians living outside the country should have the right to vote as citizens interested in the affairs of their own country.
Headway In Diaspora Voting Plans
Last year a new bill seeking to amend Section 77(2) of the Principal Act altering the current Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria passed its second reading at the House of Representatives.
Sponsored by Chairperson of the House Committee on Diaspora Affairs, Hon. Tolulope Akande-Sadipe and 15 other lawmakers, the bill’s draft states that “Every citizen of Nigeria, who has attained the age of eighteen years residing within or outside Nigeria at the time of registration of voters for purposes of election to a Legislative house, shall be entitled to be registered as a voter for that election.”
This story is part of our new series on Nigeria where we analyse electoral and political reform in the country ahead of the next general elections in 2023.
