PWDs
By Angela Atabo
Inclusive Friends Association (IFA), on Friday called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to stand by its commitment to provide assistive materials for Persons With Disabilities (PWD) and give them priority voting.
IFA also said it had deployed 250 Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) observers to measure the deployment of PWD assistive materials and their usage for voting in the General Elections.
Ms Grace Jerry, Executive Director IFA and convener of the IFA Vote-Ability Campaign said this during the Pre-Election Press Conference for the Feb. 25, general elections in Abuja.
According to Jerry, the Vote-Ability is a disability rights movement led by IFA for Nigeria’s 30 million PWDs and the goal is to increase the participation of PWDs in the electoral processes and ensure the full implementation of the 2022 Electoral Act.
She said that according to the INEC, 21,165 magnifying glasses would be provided for Persons With Albinism and low vision, 8,117 brail ballots for blind voters and 6,167 EC30E PWD posters a pictorial election instruction for deaf and other electorates.
“IFA Vote-Ability will deploy carefully recruited and trained PWD observers who will be observing at their pre-assigned polling unit and reporting to a data centre through the use of technology in near real-time.
“The information provided will enable IFA to provide the electoral umpire with quick information where its intervention is required to ensure there are no PWDs disenfranchised from voting .
“In spite of making up to 15 per cent of Nigeria’s population ,Nigerians with disabilities in previous elections have documented barriers at various stages such as polling units not always accessible to voters with physical impairment ,absence of ramps and handrails for use by PWDs ,inadequate deployment of form EC30E for deaf voters.
“Others are brail ballot guide for blind voters and magnifying glasses for persons with albinism and general polling unit layout which makes it difficult for PWDs with physical impairment.’’
Jide Ojo, Board of Trustees member of IFA, said that following the observations and the need to conduct an all inclusive election, IFA Vote-Ability therefore, called to action for stakeholders across Nigeria for a peaceful ,accessible and credible elections.
Ojo said that IFA Vote-Ability campaign called on all registered PWDs to vote en mass for the candidates of their choice and take safety precautions ,call security agencies when safety is threatened and prioritise their safety above all.
“The IFA Vote-Ability campaign calls on INEC to stand by its commitment to providing brail ballot guide and guarantee the provision of other PWD-friendly election materials and also fully enforce its policy of priority voting for PWDs so that PWDs are not required to stand in line for long hours as witnessed in previous elections.
“Security agencies should protect all voters and election observers especially those with disabilities,”
Ojo said IFA called on the media to focus on how PWDs are faring as they report on the nation’s election.
“We understand that the media is often more fixated on election outcomes or results, but wish to note that their reports will be incomplete if they fail to pay due attention to a huge constituency like PWDs.
“Nigerians need to know what was done to accommodate PWDs, and the media is the gateway to achieving that.’’ (NAN)
