Tuesday, September 23, 2025 - The President of Nigerian Union South Africa (NUSA), Smart Nwobi, has called on the Federal Government to initiate steps to facilitate diaspora voting.
Nwobi made the call in London at a summit organised by the
National Association of Nigerian Students in Diaspora (NANS-D).
He said inspite of millions of Nigerians abroad whose
remittances remain a lifeline to the nation’s economy, many continue to be
excluded from electoral participation.
Nwobi, according to a press release made available to the
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, said remittances had been stabilising
households.
He cited a World Bank report which put diaspora remittances
to Nigeria in 2023 at over 20.1 billion dollars.
Nwobi said that beyond financial contributions, Nigerians
abroad hold expertise in critical sectors that could be harnessed for national
development.
” Democracy cannot be complete if millions of its citizens
are locked out of participation simply because they live beyond the nation’s
borders,” Nwobi said.
He added that granting voting rights to Nigerians outside
the country would help deepen democracy in the country.
Nwobi also decried the persistent harassment of Nigerian
migrants in South Africa by groups such as Operation Dudula.
He called on the Nigerian government to work with its South
African counterpart to tackle the scourge of xenophobia.
” South Africa and Nigeria must rise above the destructive
politics of division.
“We cannot afford to
watch Africans turn against each other when the rest of the world sees us as
one,” he said.
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