The Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation (NIDO) has called on the government to expedite action by enacting a law that will allow Nigerians outside the country to partake in political processes.
The Chairman of NIDO Worldwide, Dr Victor Ubani, disclosed this while addressing a press conference in Abuja on Friday.
Currently, Nigerian laws do not provide for diaspora voting unless individuals personally present themselves for registration and voting at designated centres in Nigeria.
However, a bill in the House of Representatives is aiming to enable diaspora voting by the 2027 election cycle. This bill, if passed into law, will grant the over 16 million Nigerians living overseas the right to vote.
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“We visited the chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs where we laid emphasis on our voting rights, Ubani said, adding that: “When they said the diasporas have rights, then I asked ‘What rights do we have?'”
“With what we bring in here, our remittances, our investment – right now we are the highest employer of the youths – and we can’t vote.
“So, we appealed that the diaspora be given the right to vote,” he said.
He noted that though the situation in the country was not encouraging, his team is encouraging members to invest in the country.
He however called on the government to do its part by creating an enabling environment for investment.
“Many of us in the diaspora had tried to come here to do meaningful projects but the protocols are putting most diasporas off,” Ubani lamented.
He urged the government to improve infrastructural amenities like electricity, access roads and security.
“We are not asking for too much, we have over 17 million Nigerians in the diaspora, we can help by creating jobs and providing services”, the NIDO chairman said.
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