Adedokun Waliyu 
The Independent National Electoral Commission, on Tuesday, expressed optimism that inmates in Nigeria Correctional Centres might vote during the 2023 general election.
INEC chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, gave the hint when he received the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Correctional Service, Haliru Nababa, and his team at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja.
At the parley, both organisations agreed that it was high time inmates were granted voting rights in compliance with an existing High Court judgement in Benin City, which ruled in favour of inmate voting.
As of 2020, there were about 73,726 inmates in Nigeria’s correctional facilities across the country.
The INEC boss affirmed that the commission was committed to inclusivity, including the rights of inmates to vote during elections.
He pointed out that inmates’ voting rights have been recognised by Kenya and South Africa on the African continent, and Nigeria was ready to toe a similar path.
Yakubu, however, raised some germane issues which needed to be addressed in order to allow for successful inmates’ voting, adding that “there was need to discuss the practicalities of how this could be achieved in Nigeria.
He said, “Let me start with the Legal Framework. Section 12, sub-section 1 of the Electoral Act 2022 lists five qualifications for registration as a voter in Nigeria, because you have to register as a voter before the right to exercise that right is conferred. That section of the Electoral Act has at least 5 qualifications.
