The Albino Foundation Africa recently urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to provide adequate tools to assist Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) during the upcoming Governorship and State Assemblies elections. This appeal was made by the Chief Executive Officer, Jake Epelle, during a post-election statement regarding PWD participation in the recent Presidential and National Assembly elections in Abuja. Epelle noted that TAF Africa deployed 700 observers to various polling units to evaluate whether the 2023 general election was inclusive and credible. However, the observations indicated that INEC did not fully meet expectations, which ultimately frustrated PWDs in the electoral process.
Epelle explained that TAF Africa’s observation aimed to assess the active participation of PWDs and determine if the elections were inclusive, free, fair, and credible, reflecting the will of the electorate. Prior to the elections, TAF Africa had launched a dedicated election hub for PWDs and deployed 700 observers to polling units with registered PWDs to analyze and address key issues that could hinder their participation. He highlighted the need for INEC to provide specific assistive tools, including 21,165 magnifying glasses for persons with albinism and minor visual impairments, 6,167 posters for persons with hearing impairments, and 8,117 braille ballot guides for the visually impaired across the country. Additionally, PWDs are entitled to priority voting, a legal right stipulated in Section 54, subsections 1 and 2 of the electoral act.
The founder expressed concern that the 2023 elections were marred by violence, delays from election officials, and a lack of sufficient tools for PWDs. He stated that these unmet expectations significantly hindered PWD participation. For example, in the Gwarinpa ward of the FCT, members of the disabled community were not allowed priority voting, which discouraged their participation despite a substantial number of registered PWDs. In polling units such as Kubwa village/Kofar Sarki and Deidei primary school, which were expected to have at least six and 13 registered visually impaired persons respectively, only large font posters for the deaf were available, while braille ballot guides were not provided.
Data collected from TAF Africa’s field observers, who covered 532 polling units nationwide, revealed that 42 percent of polling officers arrived late. Braille ballot guides for the visually impaired were available at only 24 percent of polling units, while magnifying glasses for persons with albinism were accessible at 21 percent. Large font posters for the deaf were available at 58 percent of the polling units, and 71 percent of the polling units with registered PWDs were deemed accessible.
In light of these findings, Epelle appealed to INEC to promptly address the issues raised in the post-election statement to ensure that registered PWDs can cast their votes on March 11. He called on INEC to provide detailed information on how assistive tools were deployed across various polling units, considering the diverse needs of different disability clusters. Furthermore, he urged INEC to fulfill its commitment to the PWD community by adequately supplying the necessary assistive tools for the March 11 gubernatorial and state assembly elections. Addressing these issues will help restore confidence in the electoral process, which was negatively impacted by the unsatisfactory execution of the presidential and national assembly elections.
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