The Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs is pushing for Diaspora voting in the coming general election in 2019, Chairman, Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, Senator Monsurat Sunmonu, has said.
Sunmonu said in New York, US, that giving franchise to Nigerians abroad would give the impression that “they are part of the system.”
“The first thing that we must do is for Nigerians to have their rights to cast their votes anywhere they are. If you cast your vote, that makes you a part of the system,” she said.
She also said her committee had suggested how Nigerians in the Diaspora could vote in future elections. According to her, the Diaspora Nigerians who have the Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) can cast their votes as the PCV has all their personal data and fingerprints.
She said: “The Nigerian passports that are issued to people outside the country have the same thing with fingerprints and personal data. They can use that to cast their votes outside. So that shows they are Nigerians.”