The House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora has promised to reintroduce the Diaspora Voting Bill, to accommodate Nigerians living abroad.
The chairman of the committee, Honorable Tolulope Shadipe, said this when the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Nigerians in the Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa, appeared before the committee.
Mrs. Dabiri-Erewa was at the National Assembly Thursday to defend the commission’s 2023 budget and 2022 budget performance.
The diaspora voting bill was rejected at the constitution amendment exercise in March.
But Hon. Shadipe believed it would pass when it is reintroduced.
“We will be back with the bill, they are Nigerians and they have the right to vote in Nigerian elections,” she said.
“The modalities and the issues raised the last time will be resolved and we will come back to it.”
She said the committee was also looking at the issue of people of Nigerian descent who were currently non-Nigerians but want to return home after their DNA tests proved they had ties to the country.
In her response, Mrs. Dabiri-Erewa urged Nigerians to stop migrating to other countries where they did not have jobs.
According to her, 80 percent of prisoners in Dubai are Nigerians who went there without jobs and got into trouble.
She said there was a need for stronger multi-sector collaboration to stop irregular migration.
