The Deputy Director, Inclusivity Gender and Inclusivity Department, Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Headquarters Abuja, Habiba Abdulkareem Jatto, has urged eligible voters living with disabilities in Anambra who have not registered before to do so in the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration in order to use the assistive devices the commission has provided for them to enable them to vote in the November eight Anambra Governorship election without barriers.
Speaking in Awka during a sensitization meeting with disability community in Anambra on the need to update their data for adequate provision and effective deployment of assistive materials at the polling unit, Jatto explained that INEC is inclusive and determined not to disenfranchise any group of persons, reason the commission needs accurate, up-to-date data and detailed voter information, particularly data that reflects the needs and realities of persons with disability, which will be gotten from registration, urging those who have registered before but did not indicate their type of disability to do so now.
Addressing the gathering, the Anambra State Resident Electoral Commissioner, INEC, Dr Queen-Elizabeth Agwu, advised members of the disability community to avoid double registration; as anyone who does so will be disenfranchised during elections, and disclosed that INEC will deploy at various local government areas assistive materials such as brail ballot guide, magnified glasses, written instructions, among others, to enable those with disabilities vote in future elections, pointing out that the sensitization meeting was designed to provide accurate guidance and information on how persons with disabilities can register in the ongoing exercise.
In his remarks, the Chairman of the Joint National Association of Persons With Disabilities, JONAPWD, Anambra State chapter, Comrade Ugochukwu Okeke, stated that the level of inclusion of persons with disabilities in electoral processes has increased tremendously in Anambra since Dr Agwu came on board, and assured that cluster leaders of persons with disabilities will ensure adequate participation of the disability community in the Continuous Voter Registration exercise to promote inclusiveness.
