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Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the President on Foreign Affairs and the Diaspora, has claimed that lawmakers are responsible for the non-participation of those in the Diaspora in Nigeria's elections.
Abike said this while speaking at the Diaspora Leadership Conference, organised by the Nigerian Consulate in New York, United States of America.
She stated that the country is ready, but Nigerian lawmakers have continued to stall the approval because they are afraid it would not be favourable to them.
“We all have to make it happen. It is going to be tough and I tell you in politics, lawmakers are not too comfortable with the idea. I don’t know why.
“But we have to make it happen. If Ghana and Sierra Leone, smaller countries are doing Diaspora voting, why can’t we?
“INEC has said they are ready. President Muhammadu Buhari told you when he met you that he is ready. The only people we have to beg to make that happen is the National Assembly.”
She asserted that diaspora voting would improve the voting system of the country, just as she called on Nigerians outside the country to continue to put pressure on the National Assembly to begin work on it.
Abike said: “It just has to happen and I believe diaspora voting will help our politics and voting system.
“Two years ago, some people we met in Washington DC said they would gather a million signatures and go to the National Assembly.
“We did not see one signature. Now, let’s make it a priority. It can happen before 2023. Let’s work together to make it happen.”
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