The Senate on Friday listed certain arrangements that must be in place before it could come up with necessary legislation that would enable Nigerians who are resident abroad to participate in future general elections in the country.
The red chamber also said the current situation in the country regarding the telecommunications system was not conducive for it to come up with a law that would legalize electronic voting in the country.
The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), had on Tuesday in Addis Ababa, during a meeting with the Executive Committee members of the Nigerian Community in Ethiopia, said he was not against the right of Nigerians in Diaspora participating during elections by voting.
Buhari noted that it was the National Assembly that should pass the relevant laws to give legal backing to Diaspora voting.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on the Diaspora Affairs, Senator Ajibola Basiru, who spoke with Sunday PUNCH on Friday, however, said, neither he nor his colleagues were against the proposed progressive proposals.
He nevertheless maintained that since both the Diaspora voting and electronic voting were intertwined, necessary precautions needed to be taken to avoid negative implications.
He said, “ There are so many things that are involved in Diaspora voting. It is not just enough to say that we are going to do diaspora voting.
“it is not as if we are opposed to diaspora voting as a parliament but there are so many challenges and issues that we have to be resolved first.
“First, we need to have the accurate data of Nigerians that constitute Diaspora. We need to know their population and who is qualified to be a Nigerian in Diaspora.”
Basiru noted that the local elections in the country are usually confronted with numerous challenges especially when few numbers of votes are needed to determine the winner of an election, particularly at the state levels.
He said, “ For instance the Sokoto governorship election where the margin between the winner and the runner-up was very slim. Who will be the beneficiary of the votes from the Diaspora especially when the winner would be determined by the votes from the diaspora?
“We also have to determine who constitutes the diaspora. Are they only Nigerians in Europe, America, and Asia or are we also going to recognize Nigerians who are living in the African countries?
“There are speculations that the population of Nigerians in Sudan, Niger, and Chad alone are running into millions. We also have Nigerians residing in other African countries. So, will all those millions of Nigerians there be allowed to vote under the diaspora voting?
“Another issue to determine is that, is it only those who genuinely emigrate and legitimately living in that country that would be regarded as diaspora? Are we talking about the documented and not documented Nigerians that are living abroad?
“Now, because of the nature of our elections, in which of the elections would the Nigerians in Diaspora vote? For instance, we talk about the local government election. Will the Diasporans vote in such elections? How are we going to determine the local government they are voting for?
“Will they also vote in the National and state assembly elections? How are we going to determine the constituency or the lawmakers they are voting for? Is there any mechanism in place to determine that? The answer is No!
“In the governorship election, are they going to vote according to their state of origin? The fact is that we don’t even have any arrangement or records in place to determine that, at least for now.
“So, it is not just enough to say we are legislating on Diaspora voting but we have to find a way to address the serious issues that could hinder the process before coming up with any legislation that would give it a legal backing.”
Basiru noted that the National Assembly particularly his committee was willing to come up with laws that would encourage diaspora voting but that all the issues raised must be critically looked into to avoid negative consequences.
Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission has ruled out diaspora voting in the 2023 general election, saying it does not have constitutional backing.
The commission which said it would go with the provisions of the law said only persons registered in Nigeria at the time for registration and who turned up at the appropriate polling units could vote.
INEC Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Osaze Oluwole – Uzzi, stated these in an interview with PUNCH Weekend titles.
He also said electronic voting was not feasible in 2023 because it had not been part of Nigerian law.
Oluwole – Uzzi was asked to clarify whether INEC was ready for diaspora voting and electoral voting in 2023 since over 17 million Nigerians in the diaspora were ready for both systems of voting.
He said, “INEC will go with what the law stipulates. For now, only those registered in Nigeria at the time of registration and who turn up at the appropriate polling unit can vote. Until this constitutional provision is amended, we cannot talk of diaspora voting.
“Electronic voting isn’t part of our law and isn’t envisaged even in the Electoral Amendment Bill before the National Assembly.”
When reminded that there cannot be diaspora voting without electronic voting, INEC VEP queried, “Says who?”
“Several countries permit diaspora or out-of-country voting. A few allow electronically but most don’t”, he emphasized.