2023: Albino Foundation, European Union sensitise PWDs in North-East on #Able2Vote
People living With Disabilities would not just be included in participation but in the conduct of 2023 general election in Nigeria.
Speaking during a one-day North-East meeting #ABLE2VOTE organised by Albino Foundation, in collaboration with Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), with support from European Union Administrative Secretary of INEC Bauchi office, Zakari Balarabe-Musa.
According to him, the Commissioner has shown enough willingness to conduct free, fair and credible polls, where every registered person most especially those with disabilities would be given consideration.
Enumerating the efforts of the Commission to make 2023 election friendly to PWDs said, “There is also magnifying glass most especially for the Albinos. The Commission is doing alot for the PWDs as a community, that is why all the offices of INEC is represented here to boost their morale.”
“We expect that they will carry the message from here to their various communities, spreading to the entire region that INEC has made arrangements and will continue to make adequate arrangements to mainstream PWDs in the electoral process and to ensure every vote counts,” Balarabe-Musa said.
Commenting on possible involvement of PWDs in the conduct, Balarabe-Musa added, “ofcourse there is one who served in Bauchi office, we have tipped and asked to apply definitely he is going to serve as a polling staff. So also we are going to encourage other qualified people to apply.”
Also speaking, Mohammed Wanka, explained that the commission was guided by the PWDs framework to ensure their accessibility to polling units.
He lamented the challenges of accessing polling units, saying that most of them are in sited without considering PWDs.
“To make things easy for PWDs ballot paper will be put in the braille for a person with that is visually impaired and so on,” Wanka said.
On her part, Ndifreke Ferdinand, Programme Manager of Albino Foundation, noted that her organisation’s desire was to sensitise PWDs.
“The aim of this campaign is to reduce voters apathy, we want to see a minimum of 30,000 participants (PWDs), in the 2023 election across the country,” Ferdinand added.
Also, Umar Goro, Director, Hope Foundation for the disabled decried the challenges of about 18,000 registered out of about 43300 PWDs population in Gombe.
Goro said, “We are very grateful to Albino Foundation for organising this sensitisation in the North-East. We have so many challenges, we have very little interpreters, no wheel chairs. We have over 90 percent level of poverty, our members are across 11 Local Government Areas of Gombe State and the entire region.”
