2015 polls: How govt, INEC disenfranchise
17m Diaspora Nigerians
Two days to the beginning of the 2015 General Elections, the fate of about 17million Nigerians living abroad to vote has been foreclosed. PAUL ARHEWE reports that the onus is on the executive and legislative arms of government and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to put the frameworks in place to ensure Diaspora Voting in future elections in Nigeria.
Most Nigerians in the Diaspora have expressed their anger over their imminent disenfranchisement from the 2015 General Elections beginning on Saturday. While blaming the government, they also castigated the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and other government agencies charged with the task of orientating Nigerians on the polls over their failure to carry the foreign-based Nigerians along.
The Diaspora Nigerians bemoan that while other countries make adequate preparations for their citizens at home and those outside the shores of their countries to exercise their civic rights, some of this group of Nigerians surveyed by National Mirror, lamented that the case is not the same with Nigeria.
Advanced democracies that have attained repeated successes in the conduct of national elections have linked their achievements to the importance they place on making sure all their citizens both at home and outside their borders participate and are adequately orientated towards the exercise.
Ensuring that no citizen is disenfranchised, these countries make provisions at their Embassies across the world for the exercise of civic rights. Expressing his dissatisfaction with the situation, the CEO of Global Village Consult, Collins Nweke, who spoke to National Mirror said, “There is no fancy way of saying that Nigerians in the Diaspora are bitterly unsatisfied with the way the 2015 polls are playing out.
“For a start, everywhere President Goodluck Jonathan went soon after he was elected into office for his first term; he was happy to declare his support for Diaspora Voting and the Diaspora Commission and was confident in asserting that Nigerians resident abroad should be able to vote from their locations abroad in the elections of 2015.”
Nweke, who is also the Chairman of Nigerians in Diaspora Europe, added, “So, we are grossly unhappy that we are yet again spectators in a game where we should be active players. Some would put the blame squarely on the table of Mr. President, yet others will tell you that if the House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora Affairs did its job well or that if the Diaspora as a lobbying force was fit for purpose, Diaspora Voting and Diaspora Commission would have been operational by now.”
The need to increase participation of Nigerians abroad in future political activities is further tied to the important economic contributions they provide for the country. “This is important because if the Diaspora decides to withhold the over $30billion (USD) that they remit annually to Nigeria, the economy will feel the crack.
So, no the Diaspora don’t perceive themselves as involved because the country has sat on their participation tool: their vote and that is not good!,” Nweke further said. To further buttress this point, the Director of Mobilisation and Diaspora Affairs of Gloway Youth International, Dunni Ericson-Aminu, told National Mirror “From what we have seen so far, there is nothing visible to suggest that there is a structure on ground to accommodate Nigerians in the Diaspora during the forthcoming elections.”
“The ineptitude of Nigerian government and the lack of willingness on the part of INEC have led to this inglorious development. To the chagrin of patriotic Nigerians, some Senators have the presence of mind to officially declare to the hearing of the whole world that after 16 years of democratic rule, Nigeria is still not ripe enough to allow Diaspora voting.
“After consulting with some Nigerians in the Diaspora it dawned on me that at this moment, the feeling they are nursing are the ones of alienation, marginalisation and disenfranchisement. “It is pertinent to point out to Nigerians living at home that these Nigerians in the Diaspora regard the Nigerian system as an albatross. It is safe to say that the role of INEC in this matter remains limited by parties’ rivalry and internal inertia,” Aminu added.
However, both the Nigerian Senate and INEC have given reasons why Nigerians in foreign countries cannot vote in the 2015 polls starting on Saturday. Some of these reasons are linked to inadequate and inaccurate data of Nigerians in the Diaspora. In a report recently, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Electoral Matters, Senator Andy Uba, said the reason Nigerians in the Diaspora cannot be accommodated in voting during the 2015 polls is the absence of a legal framework on how they will vote.
In addition, he explained, “No accurate data of Nigerians living in any particular country can be obtained from any of the Nigerian Embassies.” Senator Uba is, however, optimistic that such voting could be possible in the future. In line with this view, the INEC Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega, at a public function last year, supported the clamour that Nigerians abroad should be allowed to exercise their franchise, but explained that the impediment to this can be overcome until the amended Electoral Act was passed into law.
Jega said denying Nigerians in the Diaspora the right to vote would be an infringement on their right, and added that the proposed amendment to the Electoral Act would enable them to carry out their civic responsibility. The Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) in Section 77 (2) makes provision for all Nigerians from 18 years to vote without discrimination on their location.
The section of the Act states, “Every citizen of Nigeria who has attained the age of 18 at the time of the registration of voters for the purpose of election to a legislative house, shall be entitled to be registered as a voter for that election.” Furthermore, there are concerns on the low level of awareness, apart from the disenfranchisement of Nigerians in the Diaspora, concerning the preparations and events surrounding the 2015 polls. Some Nigerians in London, recently at the Chatham House, where the APC presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, gave a speech, created an amusing scene during a march.
Many of the protesters were clueless about what they were protesting and those interviewed on camera were fumbling and mumbling incoherent words that have nothing to do with what is happening back home. The interviewer, Rose Graham, who co-presents a political programme on BEN-TV UK, subsequently expressed disappointment at their level of ignorance, and went on to allege that they might have been paid to attend the protest. On the feelings of Nigerians living abroad, Nweke is of the view that “the awareness that the Diaspora wants created is the removal of all obstacles standing in the way of their rights to vote and be voted for in elections in Nigeria.”
He acknowledged the fact that whereas the INEC Chairman, Prof. Jega, is on records as supporting the Diaspora Voting, but of course he has no legislative powers. Only the National Assembly does have the powers to pass the needed legislation, which INEC simply has to execute.
“I know that some will be quick to point out that if INEC is unable to comfortably manage the election processes in Nigeria with voter registration, issuance of Permanent Voter Cards and other matters how are they able to cope with Diaspora Voting? “Of course that’s a mischievous question because the two processes have different dynamics.
Actually, in the proposal that was worked out under my chairmanship of Nigerians in Diaspora Europe, we have a watertight, time-sensitive and highly efficient voting system based on shared responsibility, accountability, monitoring and then evaluation,” he added. Some observers of the current disentrancement of Nigerians abroad are of the view that many of them are experts and should be co-opted to contribute to future successful polls in the country.
“Some Nigerians in the Diaspora are election experts and officers in some of the top economies of the world and are instrumental in the design of the most advanced and complex election systems and processes. These patriots are willing but also able to place all of these skills, know-how and expertise at the disposal of Nigeria, not only to get the Diaspora Voting right but also the entire gamut of the election apparatus in Nigeria.
Here is the question: will they get the chance to help the fatherland? Even right there in Nigeria, the best brains remain untapped while we settle for mediocrity that is obviously not doing us much good,” Nweke said. Even before going forward, the Gloway Youth International is of the view that INEC and all other relevant agencies should devise the means to accommodate Nigerians in the Diaspora in this upcoming elections.
“If their excuse for their unwillingness to intensify efforts to correct this abnormality is premised on the lack of the wherewithal, the whole world will regard them as a bunch of pseudo-experts. “All concerned parties should not see this publication as a diatribe but as a challenge to spur them to action and discharge their responsibilities before the Nigerian people lose the remnants of their sanity”. Observers are of the opinion that INEC needs to do more by planning for future elections in order to avoid the late hour rush and postponement of the 2015 polls earlier from February to March and April as witnessed recently.
“I do not see how at least a 95% readiness rate for the election can be achieved if in the two weeks left (then) huge dedicated manpower is not deployed by INEC to clear up existing backlogs. Government and opposition need to grow up, be responsible and patriotic. You cannot play politics with everything.
INEC being truly independent (I know some would declare me naïve for daring to suggest that INEC is independent), government and the opposition should be united in their quest to facilitate their work rather than this never-ending trading of blames and insults.
“Government, but also opposition owes it to the good people of Nigeria during this last week to respect the principles of responsible politicking, call their minders to order and run to the finishing line of the race based on content and not personal insults. Let us not forget that the electorate and the media have their roles cut out for them too.
“Penetrating questions should be raised over the economy, poverty alleviation strategy, the criminally high youth unemployment, the non-oil economic stimulation strategy, strengthening of democratic institutions, the energy sector, infrastructural development, etcetera.
These are things that keep Nigerians awake at night and the goal of purposeful politics is to address these issues. It is still possible to get Nigerians to forgive the sins on both sides if they reapply themselves more credibly during this last couple of days.
“That said, I guess I must add that by the time all of these are evaluated, we might come to the conclusion that INEC and the nation did learn useful lessons while trying to give Nigeria a free and fair election and that such lessons hopefully would be carried on to perfect the next elections.
Let’s remember that ours is an evolving democracy and like all evolving things, it needs time to be nurtured,” Nweke, the Diaspora boss admonished. Nigerians abroad constitute one of the highest numbers of migrants from Africa, as reflected in the World Bank data published here. Reports have it that there are over 17 millions Nigerians in the Diaspora.
It is therefore, paramount that Nigerian government takes a cue from countries that have been allowing their citizens to vote from abroad. For instance, the United States of America during their general polls send out ballot by email, fax, or through internet download and encourages all its citizens abroad who are eligible and of voting age, to partake in the elections.
Even South Africa allows its citizens abroad to vote during national elections. In 2009, the 16,000 South Africans (out of the 1.2 million living abroad) who registered in advance were able to vote. Many other countries have started adopting this practice. Commentators are of the view that it is high time Nigeria followed this trend.
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