The Chairman Independent National Electoral Commission Professor Mahmood Yakubu has called on the Governments as well as proprietors and service providers across the country to ensure Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) access to all facilities voting and collation locations for PWDs not just for the purpose of elections but as a matter of responsibility.
The Chairman made this call during his remarks at a campaign to promote the mainstreaming of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) in the electoral process organised by the Albino Foundation held in Abuja, to reduce voter apathy and promote the mainstreaming of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) in the electoral process is a laudable initiative.
Professor Yakubu in his remarks said "wherever they are, PWDs should have unimpeded access to all facilities for education, health care etc. I must add that it does not take much to do so".
their responsibilities like all other ad hoc staff. Here, I must commend the leadership of the NYSC which also deemed it appropriate to recognise their contributions by awarding them Certificates of Commendation after the election. In pursuit of our equal opportunities policy for all Nigerians irrespective of disability, we also look forward to other categories of PWDs to serve as Supervisors, Monitors, Collation and even Returning Officers during elections.
"On accessibility to voting and collation locations for PWDs, we will continue to engage with proprietors of schools and owners of facilities used during elections to provide facilities such as ramps for citizens in wheelchairs. Most of the facilities are public schools", he said.
He said, the Commission need more and reliable data on disability, particularly the locations with the largest concentration of PWDs. "I am glad that working together, a lot has been generated. On our part, we have also gathered data on disability from the last voter registration exercise disaggregated by type of disability. For instance, we now know the percentages of new registrants with albinism, blindness, hearing challenges, spinal cord injuries, downs syndrome, little stature etc.
"You may also recall that for the first time in the history of elections in Nigeria, PWDs drawn from the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) participated as Presiding Officers at polling unit level in the last Governorship election in Osun State. Ten (10) of them were trained and deployed. We worked with the NYSC to deploy them on the condition that we guarantee their safety. We appealed to the political parties, their polling agents and voters to cooperate with them and the security agencies to protect them. It was a happy experience", he noted.
The Commission accredited PWDs as election observers. By this decision, Nigeria became the first country in Africa where PWDs in their own right observed elections beginning with the Edo and Ondo Governorship elections in 2016. The maiden report of their observation entitled “Disability Votes Matter” was launched in October 2017.
The National Population Commission (NPC) estimates that at least nineteen (19) million Nigerians are living with disabilities. From our records, many of them are registered voters. We owe it a duty to our democratic and electoral processes as well as national growth and development to encourage their active participation as citizens with equal rights.
Professor Mahmood Yakubu commended The Albino Foundation for collaborating with INEC and other relevant Stakeholders for working tirelessly towards enhancing the political participation of PWDs in the electoral process in Nigeria.
