Nigerians In Diaspora Want Full Participation In Election

NIGERIANS in the Diaspora under the aegis of Progressive Platform for Change (PPC) have requested for an electoral process that would allow citizens living outside the shores of the country to exercise their franchise during elections by casting their votes for their preferred candidates anywhere they are on the globe.

According to the group, which is made up of professionals from across the 36 states of the federation and based in the United States of America (USA) where they are also actively engaged in various sectors of the American economy, “allowing Nigerians abroad to participate fully in elections would add more values to the process.”

National coordinator of the group, Empress Omolara Daramola Olaleye who spoke to reporters in Akure, Ondo State capital Friday said, “we are anticipating a day when those of us living abroad would have opportunity to exercise our voting rights like our kit and kin living in Nigeria because we are all stakeholders in the national project.”

According to Olaleye who expressed disappointment about the sudden postponement of the elections earlier fixed for February 14 and for which over three hundred of PPC members arrived in Nigeria to participate in, “if we have a system to take care of Nigerian in Diaspora in place, we wouldn’t have been subjected to the stress of coming home and being told that the exercise has been postponed.

“We are very passionate about the Nigerian project because we have tasted two worlds and experienced the bliss of the developed nations and the agony of our own. So we want to take part in any process that will contribute to the growth of our country.”