No Diaspora Voting This Time, Says Yakubu At Chatham House

By Uche Mbah

Professor Mahmood Yakubu, the Chairman of Nigeria’s Independent Electoral Commission (INEC), at Chatham House,

has said the diaspora voting cannot be feasible in this electoral year due to lack of the enabling law to back it.

Yakubu, Tuesday, 17th January 2023 joined the growing number of prominent stakeholders of the 2023 Presidential election at Chatham House London to tell the world their agenda and role in the election process.

In response to a question about diaspora voting, Yakubu said the electoral body is in full support of it, but is held back by the Nigerian law which makes it impossible for Nigerians in diaspora to vote in the nation’s internal elections.

“The position of law remains; unless you are resident in Nigeria, you cannot register and you cannot vote,” he said.

However, he said he is “absolutely convinced that it is only a matter of time when this will be achieved. ”

The Independent National Electoral Commission has in the past collaborated with different diaspora groups in the quest for diaspora voting. Their collaboration yielded enough results for INEC to send a bill to the National Assembly to give it the necessary legal backing. But the National Assembly threw out the bill. Even then, it got a mention in the constitutional review last year.

The Nigerians In Diaspora Commission, NIDCOM, is not relenting in the pursuance of diaspora voting.

“Voting by those in the diaspora should be a settled issue and if you ask me, I will say you are preaching to the converted but the commission does not have the power to make it happen. The enabling law will have to be provided for it to happen,” said Yakubu.

“Not just because of the remittances as people would argue, but because they are citizens and citizens must enjoy rights,” he added.

Diaspora Nigerians are asking for voting rights since the estimated $60 billion annual remittances are a big cushion to the fledgeling Nigerian foreign reserve.

Yakubu is the latest of persons directly connected to the upcoming elections to be invited to Chatham House, a London-based think tank and resource group. Peter Obi, the Labour Party Presidential Candidate spoke at the House yesterday, 16th January. Bola Tinubu, Candidate of the All Progressives Congress, was recently hosted.

According to Chatham house management, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, has not replied to invitations while the New Nigerian Peoples Party, NNPP, Candidate, Rabiu Kwankwaso, is expected.

These are the four front runners out of the eighteen Presidential Candidate.

Obi, in his tour of United States, has told Nigerians that if elected, this will be the last time the diasporeans will be excluded from elections.