INEC hopeful on Diaspora voting forNigeria Elections – Jega

The INEC Chairman, Attahiru Jega, stated this when he accepted an invitation to the Commission by the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia to observe voting by Indonesians in Nigeria, as part of the Asian country’s parliamentary elections.

Diaspora voting by Indonesians in Nigeria will hold on Saturday in Lagos and on Sunday in Abuja, at the country’s consular offices.

The voting will be conducted as part of the parliamentary elections in mainland Indonesia scheduled for April 9.

The INEC chairman said it had made recommendations to the National Assembly for an amendment so as to allow people in the Diaspora to vote, adding “We are hopeful that our recommendation will be taken on board. It is good to know that Indonesia does it, because we are looking out for the best model that can be adapted to our country when the time comes.”

Mr. Jega said conducting elections in a country like Nigeria was quite challenging, but restated the Commission’s confidence that given on-going preparations, the 2015 general elections would be much better than 2011 and would comply with global best standards.

Earlier, Mr. Haseng said Diaspora voting was applicable only to the Jakarta constituency in the parliamentary election. PremiumTimes