Dabiri-Erewa advocates voting right for 20m Nigerians in Diaspora

The Chairperson of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, (NidCom) Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has advocated for the 20 million Nigerians in Diaspora to be given voting rights in the nation’s general elections.

Dabiri-Erewa, who spoke at the celebration of the 2019 Ekiti Diaspora homecoming reception, organised by the state government in conjunction with some youth organisations in Ado-Ekiti on Saturday, also said that the commission was seeking an amendment of the Electoral Law to enable more than 20 million Nigerians living abroad to be able to vote.

The former member of the House of Representatives, who was represented by the Head, Media and Public Relations of the commission, Alhaji Abdur-Rahman Balogun, explained that Nigerians living abroad were contributing enormous resources to national development.

Read also: Buhari charges Nigerian varsities to produce ‘quality graduates’ for labour market

She said: “With Nigerians in Diaspora contributing so much to the Nigerian economy, estimated at over $25bn in 2018, we believe they deserve to vote for their choice of leaders at home.

“We are already working with the National Assembly to hopefully make this a reality in Nigeria through an amendment to the country’s Electoral Act.”

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now