SAN FRANCISCO, December 14, (THEWILL) – The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared that there is no provision made for any Nigerian outside the country to vote in the general elections in 2019.
INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, made the clarification in a statement on Thursday.
Okoye issued the statement in reaction to reports that the electoral umpire has made special provisions for IDPs in the diaspora to vote in the forthcoming polls.
With 64 days to the elections, the INEC National Commissioner asked Nigerians to disregard the report, saying it was capable of misinforming the public.
He said, “The commission wishes to state unequivocally that there will be no Diaspora or Out-of-Country voting for any Nigerian, in accordance extant provisions of the Nigerian Constitution 1979 (as amended).
“Only duly registered Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) within Nigerians will be allowed to vote.”
He, however, explained that the framework and regulations for IDP voting were presented and validated by stakeholders at a conference held in Abuja on November 12 this year.
Okoye stated that there was no reference in the remarks made by the INEC Chairman, Professor Yakubu Mahmood, that at the meeting that special provisions would be made for those outside the country to vote in the elections.
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