Ahead of the forthcoming Local Government election in Delta State, the Joint National Association of Persons With Disabilities has called on the governor of the state, Sheriff Oborevwori, to set aside councillorship slots for PLWDs
The group made the call at a two-day voters’ education seminar for ‘Persons Living with Disability for Elections Inclusiveness,’ organized by The All Rights Africa, a non-governmental organisation.
JONAPWD secretary in Delta State, Mr Esume Innocent, appealed to the government to give them special councillorship slots to enable them to participate in decision-making at the grassroots level, as it was done for women.
He said, “In Delta, during the last administration, vice chairmanship slots were set aside for women, now this administration of Oborevwori has maintained that and has further set aside three councillorship slots for women at each local government area.’’
“So, we are begging them to set aside councillorship slots for PWDs and as well as party executives. Let’s have our leader, the way they have women leaders in the party exco so that we can start from there.”
TAF told South-South PUNCH that the event was to sensitize them on relevant laws and provisions that guarantee their participation in the electoral process.
The programme manager, TAF, Mr Adeolu Kilanko, commended the PWDs for the role they played during the 2023 general election, noting that PWDs, being active members of the society need to be cautiously carried along.
He said, “This is to enable PWDs in Delta State to participate actively in the local council election slated for July 13, 2024.
“We observed that during the 2023 general election, PWDs had little inclusion in the election across the country and there was the need to improve it from what it was.
“Before 2023, there was no data about members of PWDs in voters’ registration data, but from the available data, Delta has the highest number of 6,457 disabled voters in Nigeria.”
Kilanko, however, called on the DSIEC to carry PWDs along in local government elections, adding that talks are already ongoing at the national level for inclusiveness of PWDs, to have a quota at different levels in the political system, be it at the local councils, state and national levels.