PULSE NG
The Nigerians in the diaspora are desperate for parliament to allow them vote from abroad.
Ade Omole, Director, Directorate of Diaspora, All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) says more than 1.6 million Nigerians with Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) are in the diaspora.
He said this on Monday in Abuja while speaking with newsmen at the party’s national secretariat.
Omole, who is also the leader of APC United Kingdom, said registered Nigerian voters in the diaspora were willing to return to the country to cast their votes during the forthcoming general elections.
“We are all Nigerians, though we live outside the country, we have families in the country, we have sisters, brothers, fathers, mothers and our employees.
“Nigerians in the diaspora matter a great deal, not just because of the amount of money we remit to the country annually, which equals the amount from the sales of crude oil.
“But, because we are all stakeholders in the country and the electoral process, most Nigerians in the diaspora are registered voters,”Omole said.
He added that the directorate had gone into agreement with British Airways and Lufthansa Airline to offer rebate tickets to such Nigerians, irrespective of party affiliation to make travelling easy for them.
“From our last research, more than 1.6 million Nigerians with PVCs live outside Nigeria and would surely come back to the country to vote during the upcoming elections.
“This is probably more than the number of people in some states within the country, so Nigerians in the diaspora do matter.
“There are progressive Nigerians and supporters of Senator Bola Tinubu, APC presidential candidate with PVCs, who will come back to the county to vote for him,” Omole assured.
He added that even if the entire 1.6 million registered Nigerian voters in the diaspora do not return to the country to vote during the election, over one million of them would return.
Omole, who is also the Chairman, Nigeria Diaspora Voting Council, said though there was no law that currently permitted Nigerians in the Diaspora to vote from their countries of residence, a bill to that effect; the Nigeria Diaspora Voting Bill, was presently in the National Assembly.
“That bill went to as far as the third reading before it was eventually voted down at a joint meeting between the Senate and the House of Representatives,” Omole recalled…
