‘Nigerians abroad contribute $20b yearly, deserve to vote’

Four Nigerian professionals based in the United States yesterday made a case for diaspora voting, saying Nigerians overseas contribute more than $20 billion yearly to the economy and with that, they deserve to have a say in deciding who becomes the president of the country during general elections.

According to the World Bank, remittances from Nigerians living abroad reached $20 billion in 2023.

The experts were guests on the Sunday edition of Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, a programme on Channels Television. They are Simon Ibe, the Publisher of Global Patriot Newspaper, New Jersey; Kunle Deru, New York Attorney and former president of Nigeria Lawyers Association in New York; Williams Ekanem, Professor of Communications and Media, Suffolk Country College, New York; and Gbenga Omotayo, CEO of US-Africa Business Week, New York.

Ibe said: “Diaspora voting has been recurring and I believe that the time for it to be actualised is now. A lot of other countries that are less endowed than Nigeria are already in the process of their diasporans voting.”

The Diaspora Voting Rights Bill is in the House of Representatives. The bill which passed the second reading in the House on July 9, 2024, seeks to amend the Electoral Act, 2022 to allow Nigerians abroad to vote in future elections.

“Let the bill be passed and let the process for actualise start. It should be done,” Ibe said.

On his part, Deru said, “Where there is a will, there is a way. I’m not sure we will get it done in the next electoral circle but we can at least start having a target for that and a goal.