‘How PWDs can effectively participate in Nigeria elections’

ACTIONAID Nigeria, with the support of UKAID/DFID, recently held a two-day workshop on the inclusion of Persons With Disability (PWDs) in the Nigerian electoral process as part of its ongoing Strengthening Citizens Engagement in Electoral Process (SCEEP).

The workshop held at the Airport Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos on December 13-14, 2017 and was attended by key PWDs and other stakeholders.

Speaking at the occasion on the topic, PWDs and Inclusion in Governance: Emerging Issues and Discourse, Ekaete Judith Umoh, President, Joint National Association Of Persons With Disabilities (JONAPWD), presented a comprehensive overview of how PWDs are seen and why they have to be included in the electoral process.

She disclosed that “according to the recent report by the World Health Organisation (WHO), there has been a global increase in the population of Persons With Disability from 10% to 15% representing a shift from about 600 million to 1 billion.

“Approximately eighty percent of this population live in low-income/developing countries, including Nigeria.

“Disabled persons constitute an impoverished marginalised group, characterized by lack of access to public health, education, and other social services that would ideally support and protect people with disabilities.”

She added that WHO reports that “PWDs in Nigeria constitute 15% of its 170 million people. Mathematically, this puts the population of Nigeria’s PWDs at over 25.5million, and there is no law protecting their rights, as the Nigerian Disability Bill is yet to be signed into Law.”

She then proceeded to explain what disability is and who PWDs are, outlining the various models of PWDs before hitting the nail on the nail on the head with the sub-topic, Strategies For Social Inclusion Of PWDs In Elections.

She cited the need for massive awareness/sensitization campaigns to address the currents and in order to promote an inclusive society, and the development of appropriate policy, guidelines and framework to address the barriers that excludes PWDs from participating in the electoral process.

Going on, she said “capacity building is also critical through exchange programmes/visits to understudy election management bodies/institutions that have successfully implemented disability inclusive policies and programmes like in Uganda and South Africa.

“Trainings/workshops are also essential for the relevant department of INEC to ensure that disability issues are mainstreamed through the design, implementation and evaluation of programmes.

“Establishment of a disability unit that would formulate and implement disability inclusive policy to drive the programmes and projects of INEC across the 36 states and the FCT.

“Also, data and research. There is little or no data on disability within INEC’s work. It’s therefore recommended that INEC makes effort to include disability components in its work using disability seggregated data.”

Concluding her presentation, she said, “PWDs are a natural part of society entitled to whatever rights anyone has and understanding the human rights-based approach to disability is a key prerequisite to INEC ensuring that its staff and other stakeholders work effectively on mainstreaming the issues of PWDs in the electoral process.

“Though it has been generally admitted that the level of inclusion and access for PWDs during the 2015 general elections was a remarkable improvement on previous elections, the disability community is hopeful that the INEC framework on disability would drastically reduce identified challenges and barriers to the effective participation and inclusion of PWDs in the electoral process.”