RIGHT TO VOTE AND BE VOTED OF INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS IN NIGERIA- A LEGAL REALITY OR MYTH?

Abstract

The right to vote and be voted for is one of the many rights denied an IDP in Nigeria contrary to guarantees in international, regional and national laws. As displacement can be caused involuntarily by natural or human-made factors, this portends that every other person is vulnerable and potentially liable to be internally displaced, hence the need to safeguard the right to political participation of any eligible IDP. Using the doctrinal research method, relevant international, regional and national laws analysed, and this paper establishes that any denial of the right to political participation is a breach of a fundamental right. Accordingly, recommendations on how to safeguard the right of an IDP to vote and be voted were made including introduction of electronic voting which will obviate the need for the physical presence of the voter from the polling unit in any election cycle until when the IDP is fully rehabilitated and reintegrated.