{"id":1115,"date":"2026-09-16T21:29:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T21:29:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/?p=1115"},"modified":"2026-09-17T19:03:53","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T19:03:53","slug":"disabilities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/?p=1115","title":{"rendered":"INEC urges disability groups to mobilise members for 2027 polls"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Emmanuel Oloniruha<\/p>\n

Abuja<\/p>\n

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has urged Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) organisations to take ownership of sensitising members ahead of the 2027 general election.<\/p>\n

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INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, made the call on Wednesday in Abuja during a National Strategy Engagement with the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD).<\/p>\n

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The engagement also included the Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs).<\/p>\n

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Amupitan, represented by National Commissioner, Prof. Rhoda Gumus, said disability inclusion could not be achieved by INEC alone.<\/p>\n

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He said disability organisations, civil society organisations and PwDs themselves must collectively ensure an inclusive electoral process.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe encourage JONAPwD and various OPDs to take ownership of the sensitisation process by sensitising their members within respective disability clusters,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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According to him, cluster leaders are strategically positioned to communicate information on voter awareness, voting procedures and accessibility measures.<\/p>\n

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Amupitan said the engagement was part of measures to ensure that no eligible voter was left behind in the 2027 general election.<\/p>\n

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He said the meeting demonstrated INEC\u2019s commitment to an electoral process that was inclusive, accessible, participatory and responsive to eligible citizens.<\/p>\n

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The chairman disclosed that INEC\u2019s available data, compiled before the introduction of the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS), recorded 137,487 PwDs.<\/p>\n

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He said the figure comprised 13,080 visually impaired persons, 9,299 hearing impaired persons and 30,561 persons with albinism.<\/p>\n

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Others included 19,430 persons with physical impairments and 54,941 persons under other disability categories.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThese figures further demonstrate the need for sustained and targeted engagement to ensure that PwDs are adequately informed, mobilised and supported,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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Amupitan said participation of PwDs in elections was protected under Section 54 of the Electoral Act 2026 and the 2018 disability discrimination legislation.<\/p>\n

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He tasked participants with providing practical recommendations to address barriers affecting voting, access to information and political candidacy among PwDs.<\/p>\n

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The chairman also said INEC would replicate the engagement at state level and translate agreed strategies into practical interventions at grassroots level.<\/p>\n

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In her remarks, Director, Gender and Inclusivity Department, Mrs Lakunuya Dorothy Bello, described PwDs as an important constituency in Nigeria\u2019s democracy.<\/p>\n

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Bello said their voices, choices and participation were essential to the credibility and inclusiveness of the democratic process.<\/p>\n

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She said INEC had introduced measures including Braille ballot guides, magnifying glasses, EC30 PwD forms and sign-language interpretation during collation activities.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe Commission remains committed to strengthening accessibility and inclusion in the electoral process,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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Bello, however, acknowledged continuing challenges involving access to voter information and electoral facilities for PwDs.<\/p>\n

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She urged stakeholders to develop practical and sustainable strategies for reaching PwDs who might be excluded through conventional voter education channels.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe should consider innovative approaches, including disability-specific communication channels, community-based organisations, social media, radio and other appropriate assistive formats,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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The engagement focused on developing targeted sensitisation and mobilisation strategies to increase participation and turnout among PwDs during the 2027 general election.<\/p>\n

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INEC\u2019s approved timetable fixes the presidential and National Assembly elections for Feb. 20, 2027, while governorship and State Assembly elections hold March 6.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has urged Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) organisations to take ownership of sensitising members ahead of the 2027 general election.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1116,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[682,12,681],"class_list":["post-1115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-inclusivity","tag-inec","tag-pwds"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/IMG_20260916_113920-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1115","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1115"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1115\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1121,"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1115\/revisions\/1121"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}