Persons with Disabilities have called on the Independent National Electoral Commission to grant them a special one-week extension to register as voters ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The call was made in a statement by the National Coordinator, PWDs, National Prayer Support Group for Good Governance, Emmanuel Aduku, on Wednesday, following the release of the latest voter register figures by INEC.
Recall that INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, had disclosed on Tuesday that the commission recorded 232,658 PWDs across 10 categories, representing about 0.23 per cent of the total voter register.
The PWDs group said the 232,658 Persons with Disabilities captured among the 103,428,715 registered voters was a cause for concern, urging INEC to take additional steps to improve the participation of PWDs in the electoral process.
It appealed to INEC to approve a one-week special extension of voter registration exclusively for PWDs, with appropriate accessibility and support measures put in place.
The group urged INEC to consider special measures during the proposed extension, including “priority access and mobility support at registration centres, registration outreach to schools for the deaf, blind and other special clusters, as well as door-to-door mobilisation and registration support through credible databases and coordinated meeting centres.”
The statement partly read, “The National Prayer Support Group for Good Governance, PWDs chapter, expresses its total displeasure and disappointment over the figures just released by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
“Out of a total of over 103 million captured Nigerian voters, only 232,658 are Persons With Disabilities. This is statistically and morally unacceptable when we have an estimated 30-35 million PWDs in Nigeria. This means less than one per cent of PWDs have been captured. We cannot claim to be practising inclusive democracy with this outcome.”
While acknowledging that PWD leadership and advocacy groups also have a responsibility to mobilise their members, the group said government institutions must equally ensure that persons living with disabilities are not left behind in the democratic process.
The statement added, “While we apportion part of the blame to the leadership of PWDs for inadequate mobilisation, the PWDs themselves must also rise to the occasion. The time has come to understand that democracy rewards participation, not indifference while sitting at home.
“We therefore recommend a one-week special extension of voter registration exclusively for PWDs, with all the necessary support measures put in place. Equal rights, not charity.
“We must not turn Persons With Disabilities into a charity model. What they need is not pity, but equal opportunities and the full exercise of their constitutional rights to participate in choosing their leaders.”
The statement also called on organisations representing PWDs to intensify mobilisation, noting that the NPSGGG has more than 1,700 registered PWD members.
“If the NPSGGG alone has over 1,700 registered PWD members, then political support groups and organisations nationwide, regardless of party affiliation, should collectively be able to mobilise significantly more PWDs to participate in the electoral process,” the statement continued.
In the INEC release on Tuesday, Lagos topped the state-by-state breakdown with 7,488,633 registered voters, followed by Kano with 6,570,276 and Kaduna with 4,662,640. Katsina ranked fourth with 3,876,051, followed by Rivers with 3,736,434, Oyo with 3,588,111, Delta with 3,525,988, Benue with 3,057,225, Ogun with 3,037,981 and Bauchi with 3,012,547.
Ekiti had the lowest number of registered voters at 1,055,708, followed by Bayelsa with 1,200,691.
The Federal Capital Territory recorded 1,732,043 registered voters, while Ondo had 1,733,641 and Gombe 1,768,560.
By geopolitical zones, the North-West led with 25,083,411 registered voters, followed by the South-West with 19,614,274 and North-Central with 16,965,787. The South-South recorded 15,823,550 voters, while the North-East had 13,965,475 and the South-East 11,976,218.
The North-West therefore had 5,469,137 more registered voters than the South-West.
On the demographic profile of the register, Amupitan said male voters numbered 53,528,218, representing 51.75 per cent, while female voters accounted for 49,900,497, or 48.25 per cent.
Voters aged between 35 and 49 constituted the largest age group, with 43,265,946 voters, representing 41.83 per cent of the register. They were followed by voters aged 18 to 34, who numbered 29,777,576, representing 28.79 per cent.
Those aged 50 to 69 accounted for 22,982,900 voters, or 22.22 per cent, while voters aged 70 and above numbered 7,402,291, representing 7.16 per cent.
INEC said the voter register would be displayed for public scrutiny from October 9 to 15, 2026, in line with Section 19(1) of the Electoral Act 2026.
