By Haruna Salami
The Senate has described any attempt by an individual or agency to deny inmates of correctional centres their right to vote is “unconstitutional, illegal, unlawful, null and void.
This was the outcome of a motion on “the prerogative of Prison Inmates to vote in general elections in Nigeria: statutory, inalienable and non-negotiable” sponsored by Senator Abba Moro representing Benue South.
The Senate noted that certain human rights are inalienable and come naturally with the birth of the individual, adding, one of such rights is that of citizenship.
“Incarceration, though one of the legal grounds of depriving a person or an offender in custody of certain rights, the right of citizenship cannot at any point be taken away.
Citizenship as encapsulated under the Nigerian Constitution 1999 (as amended) comes with many defined rights and civic responsibilities, one of which is the right to vote in general elections.
“There are certain persons in prison custody awaiting trial, undergoing trial or awaiting conviction for one offence or the other whose right to vote and citizenship remain sacrosanct”.
Moro noted that being a Prison inmate is not impediment to the prisoners’ registration and voting rights as enshrined under Section 24 of the Electoral Act, 2022 and denying prison inmates access to the electoral process constitutes an infringement of their rights as citizens of Nigeria as provided under Section 25 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) which confirms the definition of who a citizen is as well as Section 12(1) of the Electoral Act, 2022 (as amended) which spells out who qualifies to vote”.
According to the motion, the number of inmates in various prisons nationwide is put at over 68,000 and the statistics of those awaiting trial who in the eyes of the law are presumed innocent until found guilty, it is forthright and just that such persons be allowed to exercise their franchise and any attempt by an individual or agency to deny inmates of their right to vote is unconstitutional, illegal, unlawful, null and void”.
The Senate therefore resolved to urge the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC and all relevant agencies to:
“carry out a voracious voter’s enlightenment in all prisons in Nigeria, to educate the inmates of their rights and necessity to exercise their franchise in general elections;
“update its register of voters to take into account the prison population for the purpose of elections;
“allow duly registered and eligible prison-electorate to exercise their franchise during all general elections in Nigeria.
The Senate finally urged INEC in collaboration with the Nigeria Correctional Service to locate Voting Centres at Custodial Centres across the country to be used for voting
