Chief Executive Officer, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has begged the National Assembly to enact a bill that would ensure Nigerians in the diaspora would be eligible to vote during elections in the country, wherever they are across the globe.
She revealed this before the House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora, chaired by Rep. Tolulope Akande-Sadipe (APC-Oyo), to defend the commission’s 2020 budget on Tuesday.
According to her, this move will be a legacy for everyone concerned.
She then begged the legislators to amend the law to make electronic voting a possibility.
Her words, “Diaspora voting is in your hands and I think it will be a legacy that you can leave. It does not have to be in 2023 but put a timeframe to when they can vote. It is something we owe Nigerians in the diaspora.
“The smaller countries are doing it so I see no reason we cannot do it. And if the law comes into effect you can put the bill at the discretion of INEC so if they say you can do it in the UK, you go ahead and do it.
“I also think it will have a positive impact on voting in Nigeria. We are also hoping that you are going to amend the law to make electronic voting possible”
“We are talking about the remittance of billions, we are talking about people developing economies of the world; they should be able to vote in the country they reside and this will be a major thing the committee on diaspora can do.”
“The issue of remittances, you have to intervene. There is a discrepancy. The World Bank says 26 billion dollars but Central Bank of Nigeria says it is 2.6 billion dollars.
“There is something wrong somewhere and parliament has to intervene.”
“For instance, for the first time President Buhari brought back Nigerians from Libya; he set up a delegation and got planes to get them back. It never happened. Dabiri-Erewa added that the commission would set up helplines to enable Nigerians in distress call the commission.
“We hope to set up, very soon, our helplines so you can call at any time. We are working with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to make this happen because communication is key.
“We will be sending the committee all these interventions and we will also be sending to the ministry as well for you to know what is going on and where it goes beyond our power”
”We will hand it over to both the ministry and the commission. I believe that there is a lot we can work together on.”
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