Paving the Way for Entrenching the Diaspora’s Voting Rights under the Nigerian Laws: Legal Prospects, Challenges and Potential Solutions

Öz

Diaspora overseas or external voting hinges on citizen’s universal right to vote and has become popular among modern democracies all over the world. Over a hundred nations have so far adopted overseas or with varying scopes and/or restrictions. Currently, Nigerian laws do not provide for the right of Nigerians living overseas to participate in elections unless they personally present themselves for registration and voting at designated centers in Nigeria. Since 1999, calls have persisted among Nigerians in the diaspora for law reforms to enable them to exercise their universal right to vote during elections. Since then, various administrations in the Nigerian government have yielded to those calls by setting up an independent dedicated body that is saddled with the responsibility of engaging and mobilizing Nigerians living overseas as equal allies in national development. Nigerians in the diaspora, as equal citizens, should be allowed to exercise their right to vote just like their peers. This article reviews the 1999 Nigerian Constitution and the Electoral Act of 2010 and finds that there are some legal hurdles that have to be tackled to allow diaspora overseas voting, and proffers some constitutional amendments and other legal reforms that are necessary to bring this lofty concept into fruition.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Diaspora Voting
• External Voting
• Nigerian Elections
• Nigeria
• Nigerian Diaspora

Kaynakça

1. Agunias DR and Newland K, ‘Developing a Road Map for Engaging Diasporas in Development A HANDBOOK FOR POLICYMAKERS AND PRACTITIONERS IN HOME AND HOST COUNTRIES’ accessed 13 June 2021
2. Ajayi Kunle P, Adu D and Modupe F, ‘Challenges of Diaspora’s Contributions to Nigeria ’S National Development: The British/American Case Study’ (2019) 3 American Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences Research 130
3. Assistance II for D and E, ‘Legal Framework of Voting from Abroad’ (ACE Electoral Knowledge Network, 2007) accessed 11 June 2021
4. Balogun A-R, ‘Opinion: NIDCOM @ Two: Beyond Expectations’ The Precision NG (17 June 2021)
5. Binder B, ‘E-Voting and External Voting’ in Andrew; Ellis (ed), Voting from abroad (The international IDEA handbook 2007)
6. Commission N in D, ‘Unfounded Fears for Diaspora Commission Bill’ accessed 21 June 2021
7. ELGUJJA A, ‘A Synopsis on Data Protection under the Nigerian Laws: Has the Universality of Right to Privacy Trickled Down to Nigeria?’ [2020] Preprint
8. Erunke J, ‘2019: INEC Rules out Electronic, Diaspora Voting’ Vanguard News (Abuja, 14 February 2017)

9. Farouk Ibrahim B, Dele I and Ukeaja H, ‘Diaspora Voting In Nigeria’s Elections: An Analysis Of The Abike Dabiri-Erewa Bill Of 2012 And The Effectiveness Of Its Possible Inclusion Into The 2019 General Elections’ (2019) 4 www.ijahss.com International Journal of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences Studies 35
10. Fidelis M, ‘17 Million Nigerians Living Abroad, Says Government’ The Guardian (20 October 2017)
11. Funmilayo Modupe A, ‘THE NIGERIAN DIASPORA, GOVERNMENTAL PARTNERSHIP AND DEVELOPMENT INTERVENTIONS’ (2018) 2 American Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences Research 170
12. Hartmann C, ‘Expatriates as Voters? The New Dynamics of External Voting in Sub-Saharan Africa’ (2015) 22 Democratization 906
13. Iheduru OC, ‘Citizenship Studies African States, Global Migration, and Transformations in Citizenship Politics’
14. Iheduru OC, ‘African States, Global Migration, and Transformations in Citizenship Politics’ (2011) 15 Citizenship Studies 181
15. ‘INEC Expresses Readiness for Diaspora Voting’ Premium Times Nigeria (1 November 2016)
16. INEC Nigeria, ‘INEC, NASS Make Case for Diaspora Voting’ (INEC Nigeria, 2021) accessed 22 June 2021
17. Iroanusi QE, ‘INEC Ready for Diaspora Voting -- Yakubu’ Premium Times Nigeria (4 November 2020)
18. Modupe AF, ‘Nigeria Diaspora’s Contributions to National Development: A Political Economy Approach’ (2018) 18 London Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Sciences
19. Mohammed M, ‘Too Foreign to Vote—A Case for Diaspora Voting in Nigeria’ The Republic (24 February 2021)
20. Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, ‘National Diaspora Policy’ (2021) accessed 16 June 2021
21. Nnamani LC, ‘Transition to E-Voting: Panacea to Election Challenges in Nigeria’ (2020) 6 IAA Journal of Management 98
22. Nwabughiogu L, ‘Diaspora Voting Bill Passes Second Reading in House of Reps’ Vanguard News (Abuja, 16 December 2020)
23. Ogbonnaya UM, ‘Voting Rights for Members of the Nigerian Diaspora’ [2013] CANADIAN PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW/WINTER 2013 20
24. Ogen O, ‘Nigeria: Diaspora Engagement Policies in National Context’, Africa and its Global Diaspora (Springer International Publishing 2017)
25. Plaza S and Ratha D, Diaspora for Development in Africa (The World Bank 2011)
26. Pogonyi S, ‘Four Patterns of Non-Resident Voting Rights’ (2014) 13 Ethnopolitics 122
27. Trócsányi L, ‘The Regulation of External Voting at National and International Level’ in Editors: and others (eds), Trends and Directions of Kin-State Policies in Europe and Across the Globe (Lucidus Kiadó 2014)
28. VOA, ‘Nigerian Parliament to Revisit Diaspora Voting Bill Following Court Ruling’ Voice of America -English (2 November 2009)
29. Wapmuk S, Akinkuotu O and Ibonye V, ‘THE NIGERIAN DIASPORA AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT: CONTRIBUTIONS, CHALLENGES, AND LESSONS FROM OTHER COUNTRIES’
30. Wellman EI, ‘Diaspora Voting in South Africa Perceptions, Partisanship and Policy Reversal’ in Susam Hyde and others (eds), 2015 Congrès AFSP (Afrique contemporaine 2015)