The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has engaged the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD) and Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) on strategies to improve the sensitisation and mobilisation of persons with disabilities ahead of the 2027 General Election.
The engagement, held in Abuja on Wednesday, September 16, 2026, focused on increasing voter awareness, Permanent Voter Card collection, turnout and overall participation of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) in the electoral process.
Declaring the meeting open on behalf of INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, the Acting Chairman and National Commissioner, Prof. Rhoda Gumus, said the Commission remained committed to ensuring an electoral process that is inclusive, accessible and responsive to the needs of eligible voters.
Gumus said stronger collaboration with JONAPWD, OPDs and other stakeholders was necessary to ensure that no eligible voter with a disability was excluded from the 2027 polls.
She noted that the participation of PWDs was supported by Section 54 of the Electoral Act 2026, the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act 2018 and INEC’s Framework on Access and Participation of Persons with Disabilities in the Electoral Process.
According to data from INEC’s ICT Department obtained before the Automated Fingerprint Identification System exercise, 137,487 persons with disabilities had been captured. The figure comprises 13,080 visually impaired persons, 9,299 hearing impaired persons, 30,561 persons with albinism, 19,430 persons with physical impairment and 54,941 persons under other disability categories.
The INEC chairman said the figures underscored the need for sustained and targeted sensitisation to ensure PWDs were adequately informed and supported throughout the electoral process.
She added that strategies developed at the national engagement would be replicated at the state level through Resident Electoral Commissioners, Electoral Officers and other officials, while urging JONAPWD and OPDs to take ownership of mobilisation within their respective clusters.
The Director of INEC’s Gender and Inclusivity Department, Mrs. Lakunuya Dorothy Bello, said PWDs remained an important constituency whose participation was essential to an inclusive democracy.
Bello identified limited access to voter information and education, mobilisation challenges and difficulties accessing electoral facilities as some of the issues affecting PWD participation.
The Deputy Director in charge of Inclusivity, Mrs. Habiba Abdulkareem Jatto, said the engagement was designed to strengthen collaboration among INEC, JONAPWD, OPDs and cluster heads, develop practical mobilisation strategies, increase PVC collection and voter turnout, and improve the dissemination of voter education in accessible formats
In a keynote address, Executive Director of Inclusive Friends Association, Grace Jerry, advocated a mobilisation model involving mapping PWD networks, identifying priority gaps, using accessible media channels, providing voter education in multiple formats and documenting barriers for intervention.
She called for sustained mobilisation across wards, local government areas, markets, campuses, faith-based and community spaces, as well as digital platforms.
JONAPWD National President, Abdullahi Aliyu Usman, commended INEC for its disability inclusion policy but called for more frequent strategic engagements, stressing that a single national meeting would not be sufficient to guarantee full participation of PWDs in the 2027 election.
The Executive Secretary of the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities, Ayuba Gufwan Burki, also highlighted mobility challenges, inadequate assistive devices and restrictions affecting movement during elections as barriers to participation.
Similarly, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of TAF Africa, Jake Epelle, commended INEC’s priority voting arrangements for PWDs but urged the Commission to improve polling-unit accessibility and strengthen grassroots mobilisation through OPD cluster heads across the states and the Federal Capital Territory.
The meeting ended with the adoption of a communique containing commitments and action points for stakeholders ahead of the 2027 General Election.