The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it is working with the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS) on the voting rights of inmates.
INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, disclosed this on Friday while receiving the Comptroller General of NCoS, Sylvester Nwakuche, at the Commission’s Headquarters in Abuja.
Yakubu affirmed the judgement of the Appeal Court, granting inmates the right to register and vote in any elections.
“We are aware that the right to vote is a human right which cannot be taken away from a citizen on account of time being served in a correctional facility. In many parts of the world, including some African countries such as Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa, where our officials observed elections, inmates exercised the right to vote,” Yakubu said.
“As you are aware, an election is a process governed by law. Working together, we can seize the opportunity of the ongoing electoral reform for a clear legal provision that will specifically cover citizens serving time in our correctional facilities. Working together, we can seize the opportunity of ongoing electoral reform for a clear legal provision that will specifically cover citizens serving time in our correctional facilities,” Yakubu said. “Our immediate task is to engage with the National Assembly for clarity and legal backing.”
He referenced a series of meetings the Commission had with the service, to work out modalities for accommodating affected inmates, which include access to facilities, and political parties’ concerns, as well as clarifications for the category of inmates the judgement favour.
The INEC chairman re-echoed the need to seek the intervention of the National Assembly on the matter.
He assured the service of the commission’s determination to allow inmates to vote in any election, provided it is done following existing laws.
“The Commission is aware of the judgements of the Federal High Court in Benin delivered on 16th December 2014 and the Court of Appeal, also in Benin, delivered on 7th December 2018 pertaining to the right to vote by five plaintiffs awaiting trial,” the INEC chairman told the gathering. Based on the combined provisions of Article 25 of the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (1966) and Section 25 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) on citizenship, the court affirmed the rights of plaintiffs who were inmates awaiting trial to vote in elections. However, the judges ruled that the right to vote is only excisable when asserted, as it is a choice to be exercised voluntarily by a citizen and not a duty to be imposed by force of authority”.
