Voting rights in Nigeria
The history of voting rights in Nigeria mirrors the complexity of the nation itself.[1]
Beginning within the
Though women of the southern and eastern regions of the nation gained their voting rights in 1954, women of the northern region of Nigeria earned their right to vote in 1979.[4] The suffrage movement was headed by several groups such as the Women's Movement of Nigeria and the women's wing of the Action Group.[5][6]
Currently, there is an ongoing struggle regarding the role of members of the diaspora in electoral processes.[7] Though several inroads have been made in the form of bills introduced in both the House and Senate, no concrete successes have been made.[8]
Milestones of national franchise changes
- 1923: Adult males who accumulate a minimum income of £100 in the year preceding the election, are residents of Lagos or Calabar for at least 1 year, are above the age of 21, and are British subjects or natives of the Nigerian protectorate are granted suffrage under Clifford Constitution.[9]
- 1946: Adult males who possess £50 in property, are residents of Lagos or Calabar for at least 1 year, are above the age of 21, and are British subjects or natives of the Nigerian protectorate are granted suffrage under Richards Constitution.[9]
- 1951: Adult males who have paid taxes somewhere in Nigeria within the year preceding the election, have resided in the electoral area in which they wish to vote for at least 1 year, are above the age of 21, and are British subjects or natives of the Nigerian protectorate are granted suffrage under Macpherson Constitution.[citation needed]
- 1954: Women of the eastern and southern regions are granted suffrage under the Lyttelton Constitution.[citation needed]
- 1979: Women of the northern region are granted suffrage under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1979).[1] The voting age is also lowered to 18 and the citizenry is included in presidential elections.[10]
Colonial era
The right to vote has taken many forms in
In the period from 1950 to 1958, regionally specific and general voting qualifications of federal elections cohabited the political space due to the inapplicability of many general qualifications.
Independence movement and the First Nigerian Republic (1922-1966)
As the Nigerian government completed the transition to home rule and witnessed the fall of the First Republic of Nigeria in the period from 1958 to 1966, the Elections (House of Representatives) Regulations of 1958 stated that the electoral regulations developed by the federal legislature would apply to all states, thereby removing the confluence of specific and general regulations in federal elections and establishing the ascendancy of federal laws.[9] Despite this legislative action, the federal government retained its respect for regional voting rights in some capacities.[9] Namely, though these regulations granted universal adult suffrage in both the Eastern and Western regions, the federal legislature respected the local regulations that maintained adult male suffrage in the North.[9] The federal electoral regulations developed under the previous periods (with the notable exceptions of gender restrictions in some regions and taxation requirements in all regions) merged to form a generally unified approach to voting rights.[9] The distinction of regulations concerning state elections also remained.[9]
Second Nigerian Republic (1979-1983)
Under the Nigerian constitution of 1979, voting rights, or the right to register as a voter, were extended to all citizens of Nigeria who resided in Nigeria at the time of voter registration.[10] Though the previous general elections only involved the election of members into legislative bodies, the 1979 Constitution provided for the election of the President and Vice-President by those granted the ability to vote in legislative elections.[10]
Third Nigerian Republic (1992-1993)
The Nigerian constitution of 1993, which was intended to usher in democratic rule, was never fully implemented.[1]
Fourth Nigerian Republic (1999-)
Under the Nigerian constitution of 1999 and the Electoral Act of 2010, voting rights mirrored the provisions of the Second Nigerian Republic in which all citizens of Nigeria who resided in Nigeria at the time of voter registration were entitled to register as a voter.[10]
Minority rights
Women
Female suffrage was initially granted with regional specificity.[9] In the Igbo-dominated eastern region and the Yoruba-dominated western region, women were allowed the right to vote in 1954.[9] Though the Elections (House of Representatives) Regulations of 1958 standardized the federal distribution of voting rights across the nation, women in the northern region remained unable to vote until the late 70s.[9] Universal suffrage was achieved finally in 1979 when women in northern states were granted the right to vote.[1]
Nigeria was engaged involved in a broader West African debate about the role of women in electoral processes.[14] Under pressure from parties such as the Women's Movement of Nigeria (WM) and the women wing of the Action Group (AG), British government and Nigerian underwent a series of constitutional conferences in order to ascertain the methods through which elections would be framed post-British colonization.[14] The Lyttelton Constitution of 1954 afforded tax-paying Southern Nigerian women the right to vote and to be elected.[citation needed] However, due to the fact that many women did not pay taxes, the female electoral base was extremely limited.[9] The WM, notably including its president Elizabeth Adekogbe, argued for universal suffrage excluding the tax requirement in order to expand the number of women able to contribute to the electoral process by voting or running for office.[14] Only after the military coups of 1966-1978 was true universal suffrage granted under the 1979 Constitution of Nigeria.[10]
Legal incapacities
Under the
The Electoral Act of 2010 similarly cites the fact that those who are subject to legal incapacities “under any law, rule, or regulation in force” in Nigeria are not entitled to vote.[16]
Diaspora voting
Historically, Nigerian members of the African diaspora have not been afforded the right to vote.[7] Though previously stripped of their citizenship rights, in 1997, the federal government granted dual citizenship rights to Nigerian emigrants.[7] Following the adoption of the Representation of the People Amendment Act (ROPAA) of Ghana in 1992, many Nigerian diaspora organizations argued for similar provisions in their ability to contribute to electoral processes.[7] In 2005, the PDP Party held a public hearing regarding the extension of voting rights to members of the diaspora in Houston— the home of the largest population of Nigerian immigrants in the United States.[8] Though the emigrants in attendance expressed support for diaspora voting rights, the diaspora bill introduced in 2005 did not advance past the first reading in the National Assembly until 2007.[8] In 2012, Abike Dabiri-Erewa led the proposal of a bill in Nigeria’s Federal House of Representatives that would grant voting rights in the form of absentee voting for Nigerians abroad.[7] Though the bill did not pass, it would have amended the Electoral Act 2010 by providing for offices of the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) abroad and extending Section 12(1)(c) to include Nigerians in Diaspora as opposed to including only Nigerians residing in Nigeria.[8]
In 2021, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Zubairu Dada reiterated the Government's intent to enact diaspora voting, albeit not in time for the 2023 Nigerian general election, saying "The National Assembly is working closely with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to fashion a way to actualise diaspora voting. I remain very optimistic that in the not-too-distant future, it should be possible for Nigerians in the diaspora to participate in our national elections."[17]
References
- ^ S2CID 144014239.
- ^ JSTOR 41971203– via JSTOR.
- ^ S2CID 225282261.
- ISSN 1464-3731.
- ^ Awosika, Tomisin (2022-05-12). "Elizabeth Adekogbe and the Women's Movement of Nigeria". The Republic. Retrieved 2023-11-25.
- ^ "Voting Rights: The Journey of Nigeria's Women - Crater Library & Publisher". thecraterlibrary.com. 2020-04-07. Retrieved 2023-11-25.
- ^ S2CID 145242613.
- ^ a b c d Ogbonnaya, Ufiem Maurice (2013). ,scrollChunk:!n,searchQuery:,searchSortBy:RELEVANCE,tab:search)) "Absentee Voting Rights: The Case of Nigeria". Canadian Parliamentary Review. 36: 20–22.
- ^ S2CID 144925042.
- ^ a b c d e The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1979, Chapter V, Part 1, Section D.
- ^ a b c d e Election Administration and Perception of Credible Results in Nigeria: A Comparative Analysis of 2003-2007 and 2011-2015 Elections by Abdulazeez Alao Adekola.
- ^ a b Falola, Toyin (2004). Economic Reforms and Modernization in Nigeria, 1945-1965. Kent State University Press. p. 35.
- – via JSTOR.
- ^ a b c Panata, Sara (2016). "Campaigning for political rights in Nigeria: the Women Movement in the 1950s". Clio. Women, Gender, History. 43 (1): 175–185.
- ^ a b Electoral Act 1982, Part 1, Section 1.
- ^ Electoral Act of 2010, Part 3, Section 12.
- ^ Uchechukwu, Oghenekevwe (8 May 2021). "Nigeria not yet ready for diaspora voting – Minister". ICIR Nigeria. Retrieved 26 May 2021.