The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has called on organisations representing Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) to take a leading role in educating and mobilising their members ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The commission made the call on Wednesday in Abuja during a national strategy engagement with the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD), Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) and other stakeholders, as part of efforts to improve the participation of PwDs in the electoral process.

INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, represented at the meeting by National Commissioner Prof. Rhoda Gumus, said achieving an electoral system that accommodates persons with disabilities would require the combined efforts of the commission, disability organisations, civil society groups and PwDs themselves.

He urged JONAPWD and other disability organisations to move beyond national-level advocacy by taking the sensitisation campaign directly to their members across the various disability clusters.

According to him, leaders within the different disability groups are in a strategic position to provide their members with useful information about voter awareness, voting procedures, accessibility arrangements and other stages of the electoral process.

Amupitan said the engagement was part of INEC’s broader preparations to ensure that eligible voters with disabilities were not left out of the 2027 elections.

He disclosed that INEC’s available data, compiled before the introduction of the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS), contained 137,487 persons with disabilities.

The figure includes 13,080 visually impaired persons, 9,299 hearing-impaired persons, 30,561 persons with albinism, 19,430 persons with physical impairments and 54,941 people captured under other disability categories.

The commission said the figures underline the importance of targeted voter education and mobilisation, particularly because PwDs may face different challenges in accessing electoral information, polling facilities and voting procedures.

Amupitan also referred to the legal protections for the participation of persons with disabilities, including Section 54 of the Electoral Act 2026 and the Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act 2018.

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He called on participants at the engagement to identify practical barriers that could prevent PwDs from voting, accessing election-related information or participating in the political process as candidates.

The commission said the outcome of the national engagement would subsequently be taken to the states, with Resident Electoral Commissioners and Electoral Officers expected to help translate the agreed strategies into practical grassroots initiatives.

Director of INEC’s Gender and Inclusivity Department, Mrs Lakunuya Dorothy Bello, described persons with disabilities as an important part of Nigeria’s electorate, stressing that their voices and participation were essential to an inclusive democratic process.

Bello said INEC had already introduced a number of measures aimed at improving accessibility, including Braille ballot guides, magnifying glasses, the EC30 PwD form and sign-language interpretation during collation activities.

She acknowledged, however, that challenges remain, particularly in ensuring that voter information and electoral facilities are accessible to all categories of PwDs.

Bello therefore advocated alternative approaches to voter education, including disability-specific communication channels, community-based organisations, radio, social media and other assistive formats capable of reaching people who may not be adequately served by conventional voter education campaigns.

The engagement was consequently focused on developing practical strategies for sensitising and mobilising PwDs, improving access to electoral information and encouraging greater participation in the 2027 polls.

INEC’s approved timetable has fixed the presidential and National Assembly elections for February 20, 2027, while the governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections are scheduled for March 6, 2027.