By Williams Danjuma, Gombe
Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Gombe State, Umar Mukhtar Gajiram, has directed all Electoral Officers in the State to ensure that Persons Living With Disabilities are considered in all electoral activities.
He gave the directive Monday afternoon during a one day engagement with Persons Living With Disabilities (PLWD’s).
There are quite a number of PWD’s in Gombe who have shown interest in participating in the electoral process, especially in the forthcoming general elections.
The meeting brought together Electoral Officers (EO’s), Disability Desk Officers from all the eleven Local Government Areas of the State as well as People Living With Disabilities as part of INEC’s continued efforts towards sensitising the PWD’s about their political rights especially to vote.
Represented by the Administrative Secretary, Fadimatu Aliyu Bakari, the REC said, “I want to remind our Electoral Officers that the needs of PWD’s must be considered in all our Electoral activities.
“Disability inclusion should not be treated as an additional responsibility but as an important part of our work”, the REC warned.
He also directed Disability Desk Officers to ensure that the concerns of PWD’s are heard and addressed saying, “you must remain available to engage with them and bring their challenges to the attention of the Commission.
According to him, INEC’s goal is to ensure that no eligible Nigerian is left out of the electoral process because of disability.
“We want a situation where persons using wheelchairs can easily access polling units, persons with visual impairment can vote with appropriate assistance, persons with hearing impairment can receive election information and every eligible voter with a disability can vote with dignity and confidence”, he assured.
Also speaking, the Gombe State Director of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Maimuma Abubakar, commended INEC for the initiative stressing that this is justice for PWD’s.
“No one should be left out from voting, it is their right to vote, not a privilege”, Maimuna Abubakar emphasised.
Chairman of the Joint Association of People Living With Disabilities in Gombe State, Gambo Mohammed, applauded INEC for considering them and the steps taken by the Commission to ensure they exercise their franchise without any hindrance.
Gambo also cautioned his members against abusing or misusing the steps offered to them to exercise their franchise in a seamless way.
End.
