…Knocks NASS over diaspora voting
The federal government said Thursday that Nigerians in the Diaspora have remitted $20 billion in 2021 and $4.8 billion as Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).
This was disclosed by the Director-General of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, at the 48th session of the media briefing organised by the Presidential Communications Team at the State House in Abuja.
“Home remittances is four times our FDI and contributes about 6.1% of our annual GDP. Our Diaspora are now an economic factor for development which we have coined a term Diaspora Direct Investment (DDI),” she said.
“Nigerians in the diaspora have a significant role to play in the development of Nigeria, now and for years to come. The President Muhammadu Buhari led- Administraion has in recent times recorded remarkable feats and outstanding successes in the core area of her foreign policy and international relations.
“These successes can be shown through the caliber of human resources that Nigeria boast of in the diaspora. There has been a renewed enthusiasm and admiration being accorded to Nigeria across the globe especially with the recent advent of eminent Nigerians heading key global organisations in the global comity of Nations.
“The Nigerian government through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has so far played a critical role and provided much needed leadership to ensure the rights of Nigerians are protected in the various countries where her citizens reside.
“In spite of the successes recorded so far there are still pockets of challenges being faced by Nigerian citizens across some Nations of the world and especially in crisis regions that requires the urgent attention of the government,” she said.
The NiDCOM chairman also spoke on the need fir Nigerians in the Diaspora to participate in the country’s electoral process.
She said the National Assembly has not given the needed cooperation to ensure that Nigerians living outside the country exercise their franchise.
“We engage with committees on diaspora affairs in the parliament particularly for diaspora voting and unfortunately we didn’t succeed. The National Assembly is still not interested in diaspora voting but we will not relent.
“We will continue to engage with them because I believe that those in diaspora should be able to vote because they are legally living in other countries, paying tax there,” she said.
