VOTE-ABILITY: IFA urges INEC to sustain priority collection of PVC for PWDs
Inclusive Friends Association (IFA) has called on INEC to sustain priority collection of Permanent Voters Card (PVC) for Persons With Disabilites.
The Executive Director, Inclusive Friends Association(IFA), Grace Jerry made this call in a press release made available by the association on Monday to showcase their findings in the observation exercise of the ongiong PVC collection under the VOTE ABILITY campaign.
Recall that In fulfillment of the campaign’s objectives, IFA deployed Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) to serve as mobilizers, and observers and increase the campaign on the need for PWDs and other vulnerable groups such as women and youth in the ongoing Permanent Voters Card (PVC) nationwide distribution by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“The VOTE-ABILITY Campaign has mobilized PWDs in Abuja, Kano, and Osun and also provided transportation to and from the INEC Local Government Area LGA office to ease the movement and economic stress for the PWDs”.
Grace Jerry stated that across the states where VOTE-ABILITY deployed its champions, the following was observed:
There was a huge turnout of citizens for the collection of PVC.
It was discovered that some citizens could not get their PVCs as they were unprinted.
The low number of the commission staff attend to the crowd.
The number of Security personnel is low for the crowd who come for their PVCs, and
Low knowledge of citizens in understanding the provisions of priority collection
“However, as INEC decentralized collection from LGA Area Offices to the ward level, the VOTE-ABILITY Campaign called on INEC to do the following:
Increase the number of its staff across the centers to enable them to meet the increasing demands and turnout of citizens who troop the centers for PVC collection
Increase the number of security personnel deployed to the collection centers for adequate crowd control
Sustain the priority collection of PVCs for PWDs across all collection Centers
Ensure that unprinted PVC is printed to avert disenfranchising citizens from participating in the coming election.
Grace Jerry through The VOTE-ABILITY Campaign commended INEC who have demonstrated inclusivity by providing and implementing priority collection for PWDs. The campaign further encourages citizens to take advantage of the ward-level distribution to get their PVCs.
“IFA acknowledges the efforts of other partners on the Sixty Percent of Us, YES, DEAN Initiative, TASCK, and other stakeholders in ensuring the electoral system is accessible to PWDs”.
“IFA appreciates the funding support from Yiaga Africa and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) for making the VOTE-ABILITY a reality”.
The Inclusive Friends Association launched the VOTE-ABILITY campaignn officially on Tuesday, September 27, 2022 to advocate for Peds inclusion by engaging all election stakeholders at various levels to be accountable for their statutory responsibilities. The campaign seeks to engage stakeholders such as the electoral umpire Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Security agencies, Political Parties, Media agencies, citizens, and a concentration on the community of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs).
