By Deji Adeyanju Esq.
It is important for prison inmates in Nigeria, particularly those not convicted of capital offences or whose convictions are under appeal, to have the right to vote. The right to vote is recognised by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which Nigeria has ratified.
Denying inmates this right will amount to an additional punishment and undermines the principle that sovereignty belongs to the people, not just to the free citizens outside prison walls. In other democracies around the world, inmates vote because citizenship and the obligations and rights it entails are not extinguished by incarceration.
To make inmate voting credible, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) would need to:
a. Create a verified prison voters’ register that is updated regularly and excludes inmates who are legally disqualified (e.g., under sentence of death).
b. Conduct voter education within correctional facilities, explaining both the process and the secrecy of the ballot.
c. Deploy independent observers, including civil society groups and accredited journalists, to monitor the process.
d. Establish secure voting stations inside facilities, managed by INEC officials rather than prison staff, to reduce the risk of coercion.
e. Ensure ballot security by having transparent chain-of-custody protocols from prison polling stations to collation centres.
Granting voting rights to inmates would signal that Nigeria’s democracy is maturing and moving away from punitive exclusion towards rehabilitative inclusion. However, public perception would definitely be mixed; some might see it as rewarding lawbreakers. However, if the process is implemented transparently and fairly, it could help reduce political disenfranchisement, build trust in electoral institutions, and encourage a more civic-minded prison population.
