Make their voices count: A tale of PWDs’ inclusion in Nigeria’s elections

Voting is a fundamental right in any democratic society and it is the responsibility of any serious government to ensure that citizens participate in shaping their country’s future. But in Nigeria, this right is marred by numerous barriers, particularly for an estimated 19–29 million disabled people, accounting for about 9.5–15% of the country’s population.

SBM Intelligence, a Lagos-based research firm, recently published a report assessing how inclusive Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) are in Nigeria’s elections. The report which focused on the 2023 presidential elections was tagged, ‘Voting without boundaries: Assessing inclusivity for PWDs in Nigeria’s Voting Process’. The firm polled 301 PWDs who participated in the 2023 presidential election, representing different disability clusters which include the visually impaired, hearing impaired and physically disabled, across the six geopolitical zones.

The research pointed out both progress points and shortcomings that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) need to work on ahead of the next election cycle.

Over the years, INEC has made several provisions for persons with disabilities, with the earliest provision being in 2002 and the latest in 2022. These provisions show Nigeria’s efforts to ensure that citizens with disabilities participate in elections, albeit they lack effectiveness. “These provisions were suggestive in nature, lacking enforceability,” the SBM report read. This lack of enforceability has perpetuated the marginalisation of disabled voters and undermined their rights to accessible voting.

A look into the number of PWDs in the current voter register highlights the importance of their inclusion. “PWDs make up about 15% of the population. With a current registered voter population of 93.46 million, SBM estimates that there are about 14 million PWDs in the current voters’ register, which can swing the votes,” the report read.

A major highlight of the SBM report is that INEC only delivered on a few of the promises made in the most recent electoral act. The 2022 Electoral Act which stands out from other provisions directs INEC to capture disability types in the voters’ register. This helps to provide valuable insights into the number of voters with disabilities, their specific disabilities and their needs, thus enhancing the inclusivity of PWDs. It is quite commendable that INEC did this.

Also noteworthy is that INEC trained its officials to adhere to the provision of offering priority voting to PWDs. Most of the respondents at 79.1% said they were allowed to go to the front of the voting queue alongside pregnant women and the elderly, the report showed.

However, just as the electoral body failed in its promise of transmitting election results to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) in real-time on election day, it failed to provide assistive aid to the PWDS as promised in the 2022 Electoral Act.

According to the SBM Intelligence report, a meagre 22.3% of respondents reported that assistive aids were available in their voting centres. INEC promised to provide Braille ballot guides and large embossed prints for the visually impaired and individuals with low vision, and infographics/posters and sign language interpreters for the hearing impaired. However, only a small percentage saw Braille ballots (5.65%), infographics/posters (2.66%), large embossed prints (7.64%) and sign language interpreters (3.99%) at their polling units. A whopping 77.7% of respondents didn’t see any assistive aids, indicating a lack of accessibility and inclusion, as these materials are crucial for individuals with disabilities to vote independently.

In addition, INEC failed to provide voter education for individuals with disabilities, with only 29.29% of the respondents reporting awareness of any outreach initiatives by INEC. The report also highlighted other challenges that PWDs faced in terms of transportation, with some having to walk long distances to reach polling units due to vehicular movement restrictions on election days, coupled with security concerns that come with Nigeria’s volatile political landscape.

Stephen Idoko, an inclusion advocate, via a Twitter Space conversation, said: “One of the challenges associated with Persons with Disabilities is that there’s a gap in knowledge”. According to him, voter education exercises should be implemented at the community level, where various clusters of PWDs can be brought together.

The low level of voter education featured in the 2023 election cycle shows that INEC has a lot to do in this regard. The SBM report suggests that INEC solicits applications from individuals with disabilities who obtained their permanent voter cards before the implementation of new registration standards, provide comprehensive voter education, collaborate with disability-focused organisations and experts to conduct baseline studies after each election, and enhance the design and effectiveness of assistive aids.

In all, the upcoming off-cycle elections present an opportunity for INEC to implement lessons learnt and evaluate the effectiveness of enhancements made based on respondents’ feedback to ensure that the voices of PWDs are heard.