The Inclusive Friends Association (IFA) through their Access Nigeria Campaign project have urged Nigerians to support the 12 persons with disabilities (PWDs) contesting as candidates for elective positions in the 2023 general elections.
The Executive Director, Inclusive Friends Association (IFA) and Convener, Access Nigeria Campaign, Grace Jerry, made the call in a press conference put together by IFA in Abuja on Friday. The Press Statement was organized to Commemorate the 2022 International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) with the theme: “Transformative solutions for inclusive development: the role of innovation in fueling an accessible and equitable world“.
According to her, the celebration provided the opportunity to highlight key issues for PWDs that require immediate and deliberate attention.
“These issues include the implementation to Section 54 (1) and (2) of the Electoral Act 2022, and full implementation of the Discrimination Against Persons with Disability (Prohibition) Act, 2018. This will bring about a better quality of life for PWDs and greater inclusion and participation of PWDs in Nigeria’s electoral and governance processes”.
With the theme of the year, the focus is to ensure the effective inclusion of PWDs through the provision of adequate systems, structures, materials and processes that accommodate PWDs’ access to and participation in public life on an equal basis with other citizens. It also seeks to examine the current realities of the political and socio-economic well-being of PWDs.
She said that “We are delighted to record significant growth in Nigeria’s political space with an increase candidacy of PWDs running for political offices”.
“In the final list of candidates for the 2023 general elections published by INEC, 12 candidates are Persons With Disabilities running for the 2023 general elections across eight political parties”.
“Among the 12 candidates, only three are female, and others are male. five candidates contesting for Senate Positions while seven candidates are for the House of Representatives” Jerry said.
A countrywide civil society coalition of PWD, women and youth groups which includes IFA has developed the Governance Agenda for an Inclusive Nigeria (GAIN) to help Nigeria meet the development priorities of those marginalized groups. The GAIN document was developed after over two thousand interviews and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) across the 36 states of Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). GAIN recommendations will be presented to 2055 leading candidates across Nigeria for adoption ahead of the 2023 general elections.
Issues in Nigeria IFA highlighted are:
Skeletal implementation of the Disability Act and other relevant laws and policies, Sadly, many years have passed since the Disability Act was passed into law, and despite all the efforts that IFA and other organizations are putting in, the exclusion gap seems to be getting wider instead of smaller. For instance, part five of the Act empower the National Commission for Persons with disabilities (NCPWD) to implement policies that would improve education and healthcare for PWDs, while part six empowers them to create employment opportunities for PWDs and ensure their participation in political and electoral processes without any barriers. Despite the provisions of the Act concerning non-discrimination on grounds of disability in the areas of employment, education, social life, or regarding the remodeling of facilities to give access to PWDs to everything they need, the extent to which PWDs are being excluded up to this point is quite alarming, to say the least, Electoral Participation of PWDs, Due to the advocacy efforts of IFA and other DPOs, electoral accessibility for PWDs in Nigeria is improving. While progress is being made, challenges remain. This was largely due to barriers like corridors, steps and the internal layout of the polling unit. Similarly, the voting cubicle was not accessible for voters using wheelchairs, roller skates, and persons with short stature to participate in accreditation and voting.
- Climate change, just like it happened when the COVID-19 pandemic was ravaging the country, issues of persons with disabilities only came as an afterthought! The floods and other climate-related disasters that have ravaged the country in recent times have caused untold hardships for persons with disabilities as many have lost their means of livelihood, places of abode, caregivers, and other loved ones and this has served to exacerbate the burden placed on them by their impairments.
- Organizations such as the National Emergency Management Agency, Red Cross, and other related agencies should mainstream issues of PWDs at the inception of any idea or program to cater to any emergencies. As a matter of fact, PWDs’ needs should be prioritized when such unexpected events occur because just as they are twice hit by the effect of these emergencies, they are twice less likely to be able to pick up their lives after such occurrences.
- The Program Officer of Access Nigeria Campaign, in his speech pointed some recommendations to help PWDs attain independent living, Leadership and Participation through innovative thinking and programs going forward;
- The government of president Muhammadu Buhari and other states government that have passed and signed into law the Discrimination against Persons with Disability Act 2018 should accelerate its implementation.
- All other states government that are yet to pass and signed into law should do so before the 2023 general elections.
- All candidates for the 2023 general elections should commit and sign the Governance Agenda for Inclusive Nigeria (GAIN) by January 2023
- We urge governments to engage persons with disabilities in the democratic process, to combat discrimination and abuse, counter prejudice, protect their rights and ensure their inclusion in all facets of life on an equal basis with other people.
- The group called on all on the government to employ working strategies in line with present realities to speed up the implementation of the Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act 2018 to enable the communities of PWDs to deploy their huge potential, values, talents, and contribute to National and global development.
- Government should ensure that the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities (NCPWD) is fully funded in the 2023 appropriation bill which is still before the National Assembly, and other budgets in the years to come.
- All CSOs, DPOs, development partners, corporate organizations, well-meaning Nigerians, and the international community to support the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities in implementing policies that would help PWDs live fulfilled lives on an equal basis with other Nigerians.
- They called on all Ministries, Departments & Agencies (MDAs) responsible for implementing the Disability Act to develop policies that will ensure the implementation of the Disability Act.
- As a matter of urgency, INEC should make necessary arrangements for citizens displaced as a result of the flood to cast vote during the 2023 general Elections, and in continuation of their good work, ensure that all relevant assistive materials get to the designated polling units for use by PWDs on election day.
- They urged National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to develop a PWD emergency national action plan to respond to the needs of PWDs during natural disasters and climate change such as floods etc.
- They called on the ministry of works and the ministry of Education both at federal and state levels to collaborate with INEC to provide ramps, and rails and to flatten surfaces leading to and surrounding the polling units to enable PWDs cast their votes without barriers.
- IFA acknowledges the efforts that have been made by the different stakeholders in ensuring the electoral accessibility of PWDs.
They expressed profound appreciation to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) for their unrelenting financial assistance for the Access Nigeria Campaign, National Democratic Institute (NDI) for their continued technical support and partnership. The Disability community is most grateful for their support.
“We are looking forward to further strengthening this partnership to see that Innovative strategies are deployed to engender access and inclusion of PWDs in all areas of interest” he concluded.
