Former senator Shehu Sani of Kaduna Central has praised the decision to allow prison inmates to vote in future Nigerian elections, calling it a “positive step for the country’s democracy.”
In a post on his official X handle, Sani, a former inmate himself, estimated that this could add about 100,000 “additional votes nationwide.”
He also noted that “the long-term serving inmates and the ‘Cell Governors’ and their Exco will control the votes,” as “the order of command inside the prison cell is not for the weak.”
Despite this, he commended the reform as a “welcome development in promoting inclusivity and justice,” noting that “the reform that gives the prisoners the right to vote is commendable.”
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Sani’s comments follow a partnership between the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) to secure voting rights for inmates.
During a meeting on Friday, INEC Chairman Prof. Mahmood Yakubu acknowledged the growing demand for inmate voting rights and noted that “the right to vote is a human right which cannot be taken away from a citizen on account of time being served in a correctional facility.”
He cited court rulings that upheld the right of inmates awaiting trial to vote, but emphasized that “the right to vote is only excisable when asserted as it is a choice to be exercised voluntarily by a citizen and not a duty to be imposed by force of authority.”
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