Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has urged the Federal Government to create a system that allows Nigerians living abroad to participate in the country’s electoral process, arguing that their financial contributions to the economy justify their right to vote.
“Today, remittances from citizens abroad are sometimes higher than the money we make from oil and gas,” Falana said on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday night. “If they are remitting millions of dollars that go a long way to improve the economy, they also have a right to demand participation in electing the country’s leaders.”
The senior lawyer also called for a transparent and merit-based process in the appointment of the Chairman and members of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), noting that this would help ensure the commission’s independence and credibility.
Falana referenced the 2008 Justice Mohammed Lawal Uwais panel report, which recommended that all vacancies within INEC, including those of resident electoral commissioners, be publicly advertised. He said this approach, already adopted by some African nations, such as Lesotho and Botswana, would open the process to scrutiny and attract credible candidates.
“What other African countries like Lesotho and Botswana have done is to advertise vacant positions in their electoral bodies,” he explained. “This was exactly what the Uwais panel recommended, that vacancies should be advertised so that men and women of character and integrity can apply.”
He added that the Uwais panel also proposed that the National Judicial Council (NJC) screen applicants and recommend three candidates to the President, who would then forward one nominee to the National Assembly for confirmation. “This process will go a long way in making the electoral body truly independent,” Falana said.
His comments follow the Senate’s confirmation of Professor Joash Amupitan as the new INEC Chairman. Amupitan, a 58-year-old law professor nominated by President Bola Tinubu and endorsed by the National Council of State, succeeds Professor Mahmood Yakubu as the sixth substantive head of the commission.
Falana also stressed the need for the prosecution of electoral offenders, as recommended by the Uwais panel, to deter malpractice and strengthen public trust in Nigeria’s electoral system.
