2023: We don’t want to be left behind, 30m PWDs tell INEC, candidates

• WHO: Involve people with disabilities in decision-making
• CSOs charge FG, states on disability inclusion in governance, politics
• PWDs demand regulations spelt out in Electoral Act from INEC

As Nigeria joins the rest of the world to mark the International Day of Persons With Disabilities (IDPD) tomorrow, December 3, Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) have tasked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and other electoral stakeholders on accessibility of polling booths and election materials to over 30 million PWDs, to ensure they are not disenfranchised in the 2023 general elections.

The disabilities community also called on presidential and governorship candidates to come up with tangible roadmap of policies and programmes that will alleviate their sufferings in the country.

They spoke separately with The Guardian ahead of the IDPD, a day set aside by the United Nations (UN) to promote an understanding of disability issues and mobilise support for the dignity, rights and wellbeing of persons with disabilities.

The theme for this year’s IDPD is ‘Transformative solutions for inclusive development: The role of innovation in fuelling an accessible and equitable world,’ with focus on the overarching theme of innovation and transformative solutions for inclusive development, covering three different interactive dialogues.

The first dialogue is innovation for disability inclusive development in employment, discussing the linkages between employment, knowledge and skills required to access employment in an innovative, rapidly changing technological world.

Another dialogue is the innovation for disability inclusive development in reducing inequality, focusing on innovations, practical tools and good practices to reduce inequalities in both public and private sectors. The third dialogue is the innovation for disability inclusive development with sport as an exemplar case, a sector where all of these aspects coalesce.

Explaining the importance of the day, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said it is important for governments and all of society to include PWDs in decision-making about their health and lives.  

“WHO calls for more inclusion in the health sector and society, in line with the newly adopted ‘WHO framework for action to achieve the highest attainable standard of health for persons with disabilities 2022–2030’.

“The framework is an ambitious strategy that calls on countries to ensure that people with disabilities can access the care they need, and outline ways for countries to build inclusive and enabling health systems and environments.”

In Nigeria, the Executive Director, Centre for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD), David Anyaele, said issues that deal with PWDs ahead of the general elections give them cause for worries, as the campaigns of the leading presidential candidates are low on welfare for them.

He said: “We are looking at the commitment by the candidates for the full implementation of the Disability Acts and strengthening of the National Commission of PWDs to cater for the most vulnerable group in society.

“We are looking at a commitment to ensure that people with disabilities are part of governance, to ensure that PWDs are not left behind in government programmes and activities, in particular, the recruitment of officials for Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), but we are yet to see any among the leading candidates. 

Chairman, National Association for the Blind (NAB), Lagos chapter, Barrister Salami Bolarinwa, called for purposeful implementation of the disability laws by the Federal and state governments.

“Let there be proper awareness and enlightenment on the Disability Act. For instance, though we have a law that gives priority while on the queue on election day, there is a difference between having the law in place and citizens being sensitised about the law, giving effect to its implementation.”

He further called on electoral officials to put in place adequate structures for proper accessibility of polling booths, like proper training in communicating to voters with hearing impairment and officers readily available to assist the visually impaired in the absence of Braille ballot papers, so PWDs can vote independently without intrusions of relatives or party agents.

According to Bolarinwa, there are more than 200,000 persons with visual impairment in Lagos alone. Some Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have lamented that disabled persons in Nigeria are sidelined in politics, stating that by law, women, youths and PWDs should account for 35 per cent of all elective and appointive positions in the country across the board.

This was disclosed in a communiqué hosted on global change platform, change.org, on Thursday. The communiqué titled ‘Women, Youth, and People with Disabilities should occupy 35 per cent of elective, appointive positions,’ lamented that the segmented groups are underrepresented in politics and governance processes and their priorities are systematically neglected.

“The Agenda contains a range of actions, which we expect electoral candidates, political party executives and the leadership of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) to commit to,” they said.

They also expressed the need for government to initiate and support bills that would address the needs of persons with disabilities across all the 36 states in the country.

“The leadership of political parties should adopt a permanent discount for the cost of nomination and expression of interest forms for women, youth, and PWDs in party policies,” part of the statement reads.

According to the National President, Joint Association for PWDs, Abdullahi Aliyu Usman, the new Electoral Act has been fair to them as they were well captured and considered, but it is left for INEC to follow the provisions therein for PWDs.

He noted that, as INEC prepares the ground for 2023 polls, their rightful place must be given to PWDs as provided in the new electoral amendment.

“One, PWDs must be given a separate line at the polling units and should be attended to first before the ‘ables’. Two, each polling unit must make available a sign language interpreter for the deaf community. Three, a magnifying glass must be provided for visually impaired persons to vote without damaging the ballot paper. Four, INEC should also include the names of persons with disabilities as adhoc staff. Five, PWDs should have a smooth ride from their houses to all the polling units in the country.”

He explained that PWDs make 15 per cent of the country’s total population, which amounted to 30 million from the estimated population of 200 million.

“The Federal Government, state and INEC must give them a sense of belonging by meeting the demands during and after the elections.”Other demands, Usman said are right to education, right to conveniently use public facilities such as hospitals, schools, markets and other social amenities.

At a recent roundtable by election stakeholders on the Electoral Act, convener of the parley and Executive Director, Institute for Media and Society (IMS), Dr Akin Akingbulu, explained that the forum was in line with the framework of European Union support to democratic project phase 2, which seeks to strengthen participatory democracy in Nigeria with special focus on the media as an important component.

“This is important because electoral legislation provides the framework of performance of roles by actors and institutions in the electoral process, which includes the media.

“Participants delved into five key sections of the electoral law, including section 54, sub-section 1, which gives adequate recognition to people with disabilities, special needs and the vulnerable; Section 92, sub-sections 1-5, which prohibits incisive conduct at political campaigns and Section 94 subsection 1, which outlines limitation on political broadcast and campaign by political parties.  

Speaking on the section that affects PWDs, Akingbulu said it would be good if the needs of PWDs were adequately met as stipulated by the law.
Representative of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Mrs Stella Erhuumse, harped on the need for the media to create awareness on the provisions of the electoral law for PWDs and special needs for their active participation before and during elections.

“It is the expectation of NBC that between now and the time for elections, the media would have done a lot in educating the electorate on this particular provision, so that those who are visually impaired and incapacitated would know how they can function during the election.”

In the view of Prof. Babatunde Ojebuyi of the University of Ibadan, INEC must put in place certain measures that would encourage and make voting convenient for PWDs. Anyaele said the persisting discrimination against PWDs can only be reduced through commitment to awareness creation.

“The major challenge confronting the disability community in terms of waging the war against discrimination and other harmful practices is the absence of commitment by the political actors to support the campaign.

“I am worried with the way the political parties are framing their manifestoes with minimal recognition of citizens with disabilities. This is a pointer to the challenges ahead of PWDs in Nigeria,” he said.

Meanwhile, Odo Ogechi Adananya, a representative of the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities (NCPWD), said the agency is working towards sensitising PWDs to their rights.

NCPWD is the government agency saddled with the responsibility of preventing discrimination against persons with disabilities and ensuring their inclusiveness in every sector.

“We’ve been going from state to state to sensitise PWDs. We also involve the different associations and stakeholders in each state because the Commission cannot possibly know everyone.

“Those who experience one form of discrimination or the other should report to us. We won’t know what people are going through unless they tell us. Our number is on the website. They can always come to the office too,” Adananya said.