Recall that the bill co-sponsored by the Speakerof the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas and the member representing Sabon Gari Federal Constituency, Kaduna State, Sadiq Abdullahi, on July 9, 2024, passed the second reading stage on the floor of the Green Chamber during plenary session.
The bill seeks to amend the Electoral Act, 2022 to provide opportunities for Nigerians in Diaspora to vote in future elections.
However, despite the excitement generated by the proposed legislation, the Chairman, House Committee on Electoral Matters, Hon. Adebayo Balogun has expressed doubt about the possibility of Nigerians voting outside the shores of their country without some difficulties.
Speaking with our correspondent, Balogun who represents Ibeju-Lekki Federal Constituency, Lagos State, said there is a need to separate wishes from possibilities.
HIs words, “It is not enough to have a bill before the House. What is the workability of this proposition? It is not about whether the bill is good or not. What is important is the workability.
“It is good to wish that the dollar should be equal to N20 but how is it going to work? In elections, you must have your agents, people who will be at the polling booths. How many booths are we going to have in those countries? Where will these people vote in those countries?”
That said, the All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmaker also expressed fear of the possibility of foreign influence in the Nigerian election, should Diaspora voting come to stay.
He continued, “One danger about Diaspora voting is that people outside the country can influence your vote. People who don’t share the ideology and nationalism of your country. So if we have 10 million people outside the country and they decide to go one way due to foreign influence, it means they can change the narrative of the Nigerian election and this will be a dangerous trend.”
He also noted that if even if such voters gather at embassies, their decisions may be influenced by the dictates of the ruling party.
“The best you can do is to ask them to go and vote at the embassies. Is it not the ruling party that owns the embassies? Are they not the ones that will put the persons there? Can all the parties send agents to those places? We must be objective about these things,” he added.
Meanwhile, expressing support for the bill, the Chairman, House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Oluwole Oke said Diaspora voting is operational in other countries of the world, stressing that it will be apt for Nigeria to follow suit.
The Oriade/Obokun Federal Constituency, Osun State representative said, “We will support the passage of the bill into law. These people are Nigerians wherever they may be.
“Diaspora voting is not new because we have it in other climes .
“With the state of our development, Nigerians abroad can vote from the four corners of their homes in future elections.”
The bill is expected to elicit stakeholders’ input at a public hearing when the lawmakers recovened from their annual vacation in September, 2024.